With less than five more days to go, the stage is being set for the country’s biggest sevens competition to be staged in Port Moresby. The Rookie 7s is set for the 14th -17th December and is by far the largest sevens tournament in the country that a lot of teams have been looking forward to. In an interview with PNG HAUSBUNG, Rookies Rugby Chair Lady, Cybele Druma mentioned that the organizing committee is working hard to deliver another great weekend of Rookie rugby this year. The tournament since its’ start in 2006 with 16 teams, has grown immensely and this year’s competition is expected to be heated with more than 60 teams confirmed across the four divisions-Open Men’s, Under 20, Women’s and Deaf. Three days of games will be played at Bava Park while the fourth and final day will be played at the Sir John Guise Stadium. “Our dates are now 14th -17th December, that’s four days from Thursday to Sunday. The number of teams participating is approximately 66, it may go up within the next few days but we’re looking at under 70 teams.” “Competition this year is going to be extremely tough. A lot of the teams have been preparing for a while now so all the defending champions from last year will have a very big task in defending their titles this year.” The Rookies rugby committee and operations team, according to Druma is comprised of young leaders who have proven capable of being entrusted these roles and have delivered in the Rookies 2022, are looking forward to making this year’s event another success. “We have an excellent team organizing. It’s always nice to work with young people, they have the energy and a lot of vision and ideas and so it’s very nice collaborating with young people and starting to invest in them for the future.” “Hopefully, at the end of the day, a lot of them will consider coming into the management side of the operations as we start to move up and out of that place for the founders. Yeah, it’ll be nice to be able to sit in the stands and enjoy the games.” “We’ve got an excellent group of young people this year, we are blessed every single year to have great volunteers and this year is no exception. Most of them are new faces but we got a really good mix of people-both young and old." Druma further added that the competition will be great entertainment and is encouraging families to come down to Bava Park or the Sir John Guise to watch some rugby. “It’s a family event and so I’d like to encourage everyone if you have nothing to do, head down to Bava park and enjoy the weekend with us.” “For further updates on the game draws and ticket prices, keep an eye on the Rookie 7s Facebook page.”