The 2022 Oceania Rugby Men’s Championship gets underway this afternoon at Sir Hubert Murray Stadium in Port Moresby where Vanuatu will face host Papua New Guinea in the opening match.
The two captains, Aidan Toua (Papua New Guinea) and Toara Ruben (Vanuatu) met at the stadium for the traditional captain’s photo earlier this week. Following this both teams were received by fans at Vision City Mega mall ahead of their match today.
Papua New Guinea Puk Puks coach Sydney Wesley is looking forward to the team’s first game on home soil since 2019, where they claimed the regional title.
“It will be interesting to see the team in action again after three years with a number of relatively new boys joining the Puk Puks coming off the recent MCP Competition and I’m looking at them to rise to the occasion.
“We are expecting a tough game against Vanuatu today, we have seen that they have some large boys in their team, and it is an unknown team to us but we are focused on our team and game plan.” Wesley added.
After an absence of from the international 15’s game the Vanuatu Captain Toara Ruben said his team are focused on their game and making their fans proud.
“It is the team’s first time in Papua New Guinea and the heat is different to home but we are looking forward to playing today. It has been a long time since our last international match in 2007.
“We have been working on our attack, we know the Puk Puks don’t know what to expect from our team having not played in this competition for a few years so will be using that to our advantage.
“To all our fans at home we are here to make you proud” Williams added.
Referee Toutouofa Vea (Tonga) will be taking charge of the match assisted by Jiuwa Taleimaivalagi (Fiji) and Derek Akes (PNG)
All matched will be broadcast on EMTV with tickets starting at K10.
2022 Oceania Rugby Men’s Championship Schedule (Sir Hubert Murray Stadium Stadium) Round 1: Wednesday 2 November 2022 3PM: Papua New Guinea v Vanuatu
Round 2: Sunday 6 November 2022 3PM: Papua New Guinea v Solomon Islands
Round 3: Thursday 10 November 2022 3PM: Solomon Islands v Vanuatu
All Kick-Off times are local Papua New Guinea times.
Ticket prices Grand Stand – K40, East Stand – K20, North/South Stand – K10
