Chief Executive Officer of the PNG Rugby Football Union Sailosi Druma has assured the players of the teams that will be competing in the NGI and Southern Legs of the KPHL 7s that the tournament will still be held respectfully in Rabaul and Port Moresby.
After a successful run of the first two legs of the KPHL 7s which started off in Hagen for the Highlands leg and in Lae for the Northern leg, Mr. Druma has stated that the last two legs of the KPHL Super 7s series should be completed by the end of the month of September.
“Once we lock in the sponsorship grants that normally goes to these two tournaments, we will confirm the dates and hopefully everybody is still interested to play but otherwise, thank you for your patience.”
With a total of 16 Men’s teams and 6 Women’s teams in the last two legs, they are looking forward to the last two legs as there will be 18 Men’s teams and 8 Women’s teams competing in the tournament in the NGI leg.
Mr. Druma said it was a good indication that the outcome to grow the game in that area has been successful and the tournament will be a great opportunity for them to showcase their rugby skills.
“Hopefully we find some good talents that can get into our high-performance programs.”
Last year the KPHL 7s was only run in Port Moresby whereas for this year, Kumul Petroleum Holdings had requested for the tournament to be held all around the nation hence the four legs of the KPHL 7s in the four regions.
“We wanted to grow the game not only in Port Moresby but all around the nation as well.”
Meanwhile teams in NCD are already gearing up to compete in the Southern leg of the KPHL 7s.
Teams from outside centers like Goroka, Mendi and Lae are ready to compete in the last leg also.
Mr. Druma said that there are a lot of teams that have shown interest and registered already.
“We will definitely see a lot of teams participating, especially in the Moresby Leg.”