Papua New Guinea women's national rugby sevens team

For the men's team, see Papua New Guinea national rugby sevens team.

Papua New Guinea

Union	Papua New Guinea Rugby Football Union
Nickname	Palais
Founded	2007
Coach	Cecil Davani
Captain	Alice Alois
Team kit
First international
Papua New Guinea   17 – 17   Samoa (2007 Pacific Women's Sevens Championship, 1 December 2007)
Largest win
Papua New Guinea   77 – 0   Tahiti (2017 Oceania Women's Sevens Championship, 10 November 2017)
World Cup Sevens
Appearances	1 (First in 2018 )

Medal record
Pacific Games
	2023 Honiara	Team
	2019 Apia	Team
	2015 Port Moresby	Team
	2011 Nouméa	Team
Oceania Women's Sevens
	2007 Port Moresby	Tournament
	2016 Suva	Tournament
Oceania Women's Sevens Challenge
	2022 Gatton	Tournament

The Papua New Guinea women's national rugby sevens team represents Papua New Guinea in international women's rugby sevens tournaments. They are regular participants at the Oceania Women's Sevens Championship and Pacific Games.

History

PNG's first international was in 2007 while hosting the first ever Pacific women's sevens championship (now known as Oceania Women's Sevens Championship) in Port Moresby. They won the 2011 Asia Pacific Women’s Sevens Championship that was held in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. ^{[1] [2]}

In 2017, the team made their first appearance at the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series as an invited team to the 2017 Sydney Women's Sevens. They debuted at the Women's Sevens World Cup in 2018. ^[3]

They finished in fourth place at the 2019 Oceania Women's Sevens Championship which earned them a spot at the 2020 Women's Rugby Sevens Final Olympic Qualification Tournament. ^{[4] [5] [6] [7]} The Palais did not qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

At the 2023 Pacific Games in Honiara, they were defeated by Fiji in the gold medal final and had to settle for silver. ^{[8] [9]} They competed in the 2024 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in Dubai; they finished ninth overall in the first round. ^{[10] [11]} They finished eleventh overall at the 2024 Sevens Challenger Series. ^[12]

Tournament history

A red box around the year indicates tournaments played within Papua New Guinea

World Cup Sevens

Rugby World Cup 7s
Year	Round	Position	P	W	L	D
2009	did not enter
2013	did not qualify
2018	15th playoff	15th	4	1	3	0
2022	did not qualify
Total	0 Titles	1/4	4	1	3	0

Pacific Games

Pacific Games 7s
Year	Round	Position	P	W	L	D
2011	Third playoff		7	4	3	0
2015	Third playoff		7	5	2	0
2019	Third playoff		6	4	2	0
2023	Final		5	4	1	0
Total	0 Titles	4/4	25	17	8	0

Oceania Women's Sevens

Oceania Women's 7s
Year	Round	Position	P	W	L	D	Refs
Pacific 7s
2007	Third playoff		4	3	0	1	[13]
Oceania 7s
2008	did not attend						[14]
2012	Third playoff	4th	6	3	3	0	[15]
2013	Pool stage	5th	4	0	3	1	[16]
2014	Pool stage	5th	6	3	3	0	[17]
2015	Third playoff	4th	6	1	5	0	[18]
2016	Round-robin		6	4	2	0	[19]
2017	Third playoff	4th	5	1	3	1
2018	Third playoff	4th	5	2	3	0
2019	Third playoff	4th	6	4	2	0
2021	did not attend
2022	withdrew						[20]
2023	Third playoff	4th	6	4	2	0
Total	0 Titles	10/13	50	22	26	2

Oceania Sevens Challenge

Oceania Women's 7s Challenge
Year	Round	Position	P	W	L	D
2022	Final		5	5	0	0

World Rugby Sevens

World Rugby women's sevens series

Papua New Guinea have been a regular invitational team to the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series particularly at the Australian Women's Sevens (2017−2019, 2023) and New Zealand Women's Sevens (2023).

World Rugby Women's Sevens Series
Season	Rounds	Position	Points
2016–17	1 / 6	14th	1
2017–18	1 / 5	16th	1
2018–19	1 / 6	16th	1
2022–23	2 / 7	14th	2

Player records

The following shows leading career Papua New Guinean players based on performance in the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series. ^[21]

Tries scored

No.	Player	Tries
1	Joana Lagona	9
2	Alice Alois	3
3	Cassandra Samson	1
	Debbie Kaore	1
	Fatima Rama	1
	Barbara Sigere	1

Points scored

No.	Player	Points
1	Joana Lagona	49
2	Alice Alois	15
3	Cassandra Samson	5
	Debbie Kaore	5
	Fatima Rama	5
	Barbara Sigere	5

Matches played

No.	Player	Matches
1	Helen Abau	20
2	Fatima Rama	19
	Kymlie Rapilla	19
4	Marie Biyama	15
	Lynette Kwarula	15
	Taiva Lavai	15

World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series

In 2020, Papua New Guinea were scheduled to compete in the inaugural World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series after being the highest ranked non-core team from Oceania at the 2019 Oceania Women's Sevens Championship in Suva. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, World Rugby postponed the tournament without rescheduling a future date, ^[22] before eventually cancelling it altogether. Therefore, the official inaugural series was in 2022 in which Papua New Guinea gained a direct quota.

World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series
Season	Rounds	Position	Points
2020 season cancelled due to impacts of COVID-19 pandemic.
2022	1 / 1	11th	—N/a
2023	2 / 2	12th	4
2024	3 / 3	11th	8

Players

Current squad

Papua New Guinea's squad to the 2024 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series: ^[23]

Roster

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Union / Club
1		Barbara Sigere
2		Joyce Taravuna	(2000-08-13)August 13, 2000 (aged 23)
3	BK	Alice Alois	(1996-09-28)September 28, 1996 (aged 26)	Capital Rugby Union
4		Magdelene Swaki
6		Esther Gigmat	(2001-02-10)February 10, 2001 (aged 22)
7		Naomi Kelly	(1998-09-11)September 11, 1998 (aged 25)
8		Jessica Refireka
9		Cynthiah Peters
10	BK	Fatima Rama	(1981-01-28)January 28, 1981 (aged 42)	Capital Rugby Union
11		Helen Ken Alo
12		Joanne Lagona	(1989-01-02)January 2, 1989 (aged 34)
15	FW	Marie Biyama	(1998-03-01)March 1, 1998 (aged 25)	Capital Rugby Union

Previous squads

Squad to 2019 Pacific Games

The Papua New Guinea Rugby Union announced its women's rugby sevens team on 28 June 2019. ^[24]

Roster

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Union / Club
1	FW	Kymlie Rapilla (c)	(1991-05-16)May 16, 1991 (aged 28)	National Capital District
2	FW	Lynette Kwarula	(1990-07-04)July 4, 1990 (aged 29)	National Capital District
3	FW	Marie Biyama	(1998-03-01)March 1, 1998 (aged 21)	Central
4	BK	Fatima Rama	(1981-01-28)January 28, 1981 (aged 38)	Central
5	BK	Taiva Lavai	(1983-09-16)September 16, 1983 (aged 35)	National Capital District
6	BK	Gemma Schnaubelt	(1997-08-20)August 20, 1997 (aged 21)	Queensland
7	BK	Alice Alois	(1996-09-28)September 28, 1996 (aged 22)	National Capital District
8	BK	Yolanda Gittins	(1992-10-20)October 20, 1992 (aged 26)	Queensland
9	FW	Helen Abau	(1991-05-16)May 16, 1991 (aged 28)	Central
10	BK	Marlugu Dixon	(1986-08-17)August 17, 1986 (aged 32)	Queensland
11	FW	Melanie Kawa	(1986-01-11)January 11, 1986 (aged 32)	Queensland
12	BK	Gwen Pokana	(1994-07-29)July 29, 1994 (aged 23)	National Capital District

Squad to 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens

Head coach: John Larry

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Union / Club
1	FW	Debbie Kaore	(1989-09-11)September 11, 1989 (aged 28)	New Capital District
2	FW	Melanie Kawa	(1986-01-11)January 11, 1986 (aged 32)	Queensland
3	FW	Lynette Kwarula	(1990-07-04)July 4, 1990 (aged 28)	Central
4	BK	Taiva Lavai	(1983-09-16)September 16, 1983 (aged 34)	New Capital District
5		Cassandra Sampson (c)	(1989-11-15)November 15, 1989 (aged 28)	Central
6	BK	Gemma Schnaubelt	(1997-08-20)August 20, 1997 (aged 20)	Queensland
7	BK	Fatima Rama	(1981-01-28)January 28, 1981 (aged 37)	Central
8		Chelsea Garesa	(1999-07-30)July 30, 1999 (aged 18)	New Capital District
9	BK	Marie Biyama	(1998-03-01)March 1, 1998 (aged 20)	Central
10		Helen Abau	(1991-05-16)May 16, 1991 (aged 27)	Central
11		Marlugu Dixon	(1986-08-17)August 17, 1986 (aged 31)	Queensland
12		Yolanda Gittins	(1992-10-20)October 20, 1992 (aged 25)	Queensland

Squad to 2015 Pacific Games ^{[25] [26]}

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Union / Club
1	BK	Cassandra Samson (c)	(1989-11-15)November 15, 1989 (aged 25)	National Capital District
2	BK	Alice Alois	(1996-09-28)September 28, 1996 (aged 18)	National Capital District
3	FW	Amelia Kuk	(1995-07-22)July 22, 1995 (aged 19)	Queensland
4	FW	Lynette Kwarula	(1990-07-04)July 4, 1990 (aged 25)	Central
5	BK	Trisilla Rema		New Capital District
6	BK	Dulcie Bomai		New Capital District
7	BK	Menda Ipat		National Capital District
8	BK	Freda Waula		New Capital District
9	FW	Kymlie Rapilla	(1991-05-16)May 16, 1991 (aged 24)	New Capital District
10	FW	Naomi Alapi		New Capital District
11	FW	Geua Larry		Central
12	BK	Joana Lagona	(1989-01-02)January 2, 1989 (aged 26)	New Capital District

See also

• Papua New Guinea women's national rugby union team

References

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2. "Palais seek redemption at Asia-Pacific Sevens". www.thenational.com.pg. 16 October 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
3. "World Cup Squads revealed". Scrum Queens. 19 July 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
4. worldrugby.org. "Papua New Guinea Olympic qualification would be huge achievement for "the country as a whole" - HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
5. "PNG women grateful to be in Monaco after long 7s journey". RNZ . 18 June 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
6. "PNG women 7s determined to compete in Monaco". RNZ . 14 May 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
7. "Papua New Guinea Olympic qualification will be countries best achievement – Planet Sevens" . Retrieved 26 October 2021.
8. Hawkins, Koroi (26 November 2023). "Pacific Games 2023: Fiji, Tahiti sweep rugby 7s and volleyball gold, but New Caledonia's medal haul continues". RNZ . Retrieved 26 November 2023.
9. Ballekom, Aaron; Saepioh, Donaldson; Teho, Frank (25 November 2023). "Fiji Retain Rugby 7s Golds, Wallis And Futuna Win Surprise Women's Bronze". www.sol2023.com.sb. Archived from the original on 26 November 2023. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
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14. "Oceania Sevens women's final". Oceania Rugby. 2008. Archived from the original on 27 February 2015.
15. "New Zealand claim Oceania Women's Sevens Championship". Oceania Rugby. 2012. Archived from the original on 9 December 2013.
16. "Women's Sevens Statistics - Day 2" (PDF). Oceania Rugby. 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2013.
17. "Fiji and New Zealand win the Oceania Sevens". IRB. 2014. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
18. "Australia and Fijiana Win Places at 2016 Olympic Games Sevens". Oceania Rugby. 2015. Archived from the original on 15 November 2015.
19. "Australian women win Oceania rugby sevens". Special Broadcasting Service. 12 November 2016. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017.
20. "PNG withdraws from Oceania 7s, focused on HSBC Challenge". 22 June 2022.
21. worldrugby.org. "Stats Centre | HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
22. "World Rugby Statement: HSBC World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series postponed". World Rugby. 13 March 2020.
23. "2024 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series Women's squads" (PDF). resources.worldrugby-rims.pulselive.com. p. 9. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
24. "PNG Palais squad named for Pacific Games". Loop PNG. 26 June 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
25. "Rugby Union 7s Female: Game2 Result" (PDF). pg2015.gems.pro. 2015 Pacific Games. 8 July 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 July 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
26. "Rugby Union 7s Female: Papua New Guinea". pg2015.gems.pro. 2015 Pacific Games . Retrieved 19 July 2016.