Papua New Guinea women's national rugby sevens team

Last updated

Papua New Guinea
Union Papua New Guinea Rugby Football Union
Nickname(s)Palais
Founded2007
Coach(es)Cecil Davani
Captain(s)Alice Alois
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks long.svg
Team kit
First international
Papua New Guinea  Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg 17 – 17 Flag of Samoa.svg  Samoa
(2007 Pacific Women's Sevens Championship, 1 December 2007)
Largest win
Papua New Guinea  Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg 77 – 0 Flag of French Polynesia.svg  Tahiti
(2017 Oceania Women's Sevens Championship, 10 November 2017)
World Cup Sevens
Appearances1 (First in 2018 )
Medal record
Pacific Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2023 Honiara Team
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2019 Apia Team
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2015 Port Moresby Team
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2011 Nouméa Team
Oceania Women's Sevens
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg2007 Port MoresbyTournament
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg2016 Suva Tournament
Oceania Women's Sevens Challenge
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg2022 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.

Contents

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. 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. [1]

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. [2] [3] [4] [5] 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. [6] [7] They competed in the 2024 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in Dubai; they finished ninth overall in the first round. [8] [9]

Tournament history

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

World Cup Sevens

Rugby World Cup 7s
YearRoundPositionPWLD
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg 2009 did not enter
Flag of Russia.svg 2013 did not qualify
Flag of the United States.svg 2018 15th playoff15th4130
Flag of South Africa.svg 2022 did not qualify
Total0 Titles1/44130

Pacific Games

Pacific Games 7s
YearRoundPositionPWLD
Flags of New Caledonia.svg 2011 Third playoffBronze medal icon.svg7430
Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg 2015 Third playoffBronze medal icon.svg7520
Flag of Samoa.svg 2019 Third playoffBronze medal icon.svg6420
Flag of the Solomon Islands.svg 2023 FinalSilver medal icon.svg5410
Total0 Titles4/4251780

Oceania Women's Sevens

Oceania Women's 7s
YearRoundPositionPWLDRefs
Pacific 7s
Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg 2007Third playoffBronze medal icon.svg4301 [10]
Oceania 7s
Flag of Samoa.svg 2008did not attend [11]
Flag of Fiji.svg 2012Third playoff4th6330 [12]
Flag of Australia (converted).svg 2013Pool stage5th4031 [13]
Flag of Australia (converted).svg 2014Pool stage5th6330 [14]
Flag of New Zealand.svg 2015 Third playoff4th6150 [15]
Flag of Fiji.svg 2016 Round-robinBronze medal icon.svg6420 [16]
Flag of Fiji.svg 2017 Third playoff4th5131
Flag of Fiji.svg 2018 Third playoff4th5230
Flag of Fiji.svg 2019 Third playoff4th6420
Flag of Australia (converted).svg 2021 did not attend
Flag of New Zealand.svg 2022 withdrew [17]
Flag of Australia (converted).svg 2023 Third playoff4th6420
Total0 Titles10/135022262
Oceania Sevens Challenge
Oceania Women's 7s Challenge
YearRoundPositionPWLD
Flag of Australia (converted).svg 2022 FinalGold medal icon.svg5500

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
SeasonRoundsPositionPoints
2016–17 1 / 614th1
2017–18 1 / 516th1
2018–19 1 / 616th1
2022–23 2 / 714th2

Player records

The following shows leading career Papua New Guinean players based on performance in the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series. [18]

Points scored
No.PlayerPoints
1 Joana Lagona 49
2 Alice Alois 15
3 Cassandra Samson 5
Debbie Kaore 5
Fatima Rama 5
Barbara Sigere 5
Matches played
No.PlayerMatches
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, [19] 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
SeasonRoundsPositionPoints
2020 season cancelled due to impacts of COVID-19 pandemic.
2022 1 / 111th
2023 2 / 212th4
2024 1 / 39th4

Players

Current squad

Papua New Guinea's squad to the 2024 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series: [20]

Roster
No.Pos.PlayerDate of birth (age)Union / Club
1Barbara Sigere
2Joyce TaravunaAugust 13, 2000 (aged 23)
3 BK Alice AloisSeptember 28, 1996 (aged 26)Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg Capital Rugby Union
4Magdelene Swaki
6Esther GigmatFebruary 10, 2001 (aged 22)
7Naomi KellySeptember 11, 1998 (aged 25)
8Jessica Refireka
9Cynthiah Peters
10 BK Fatima Rama January 28, 1981 (aged 42)Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg Capital Rugby Union
11Helen Ken Alo
12Joanne LagonaJanuary 2, 1989 (aged 34)
15 FW Marie BiyamaMarch 1, 1998 (aged 25)Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg Capital Rugby Union

Previous squads

The Papua New Guinea Rugby Union announced its women's rugby sevens team on 28 June 2019. [21]

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

Head coach: John Larry

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

No.Pos.PlayerDate of birth (age)Union / Club
1 BK Cassandra Samson (c) (1989-11-15)November 15, 1989 (aged 25)Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg National Capital District
2 BK Alice Alois (1996-09-28)September 28, 1996 (aged 18)Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg National Capital District
3 FW Amelia Kuk (1995-07-22)July 22, 1995 (aged 19)Flag of Australia (converted).svg Queensland
4 FW Lynette Kwarula (1990-07-04)July 4, 1990 (aged 25)Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg Central
5 BK Trisilla RemaFlag of Papua New Guinea.svg New Capital District
6 BK Dulcie BomaiFlag of Papua New Guinea.svg New Capital District
7 BK Menda IpatFlag of Papua New Guinea.svg National Capital District
8 BK Freda WaulaFlag of Papua New Guinea.svg New Capital District
9 FW Kymlie Rapilla (1991-05-16)May 16, 1991 (aged 24)Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg New Capital District
10 FW Naomi AlapiFlag of Papua New Guinea.svg New Capital District
11 FW Geua LarryFlag of Papua New Guinea.svg Central
12 BK Joana Lagona (1989-01-02)January 2, 1989 (aged 26)Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg New Capital District

See also

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