Lareva Dragons Snatch Third Leg of Rigo Rice Cup

The unpredictable Lareva Dragons stunned the formidable Morobe Pride with a nail-biting 12-11 victory to claim the Third Leg of the KCK Rigo Rice Cup on Sunday, April 13th, 2025, at Sir Hubert Murray Stadium in Port Moresby. 

Morobe Pride, the only team outside of the nation’s capital to participate in the inaugural competition, remained undefeated in the normal rounds and reached the grand final, but they were edged by the Dragons in a thrilling decider. 

The Lae-based team scored the opening try through Leo Fred and half-back Jacky Winas slotted the conversion successfully, giving the Pride a head start. 

A few minutes later, the Dragons hit back through Naipo Nari to level the points, followed by Rodney Karo’s try in the ensuing set to put the eventual champions in front with a 10-6 lead at the break.

In the 17th minute of the second half, star half-back Jacky Winas crossed over the line and converted his try to equalize the points at 10-all.  

With six minutes left on the clock, Winas’ field goal almost sealed the deal, but the Keary Tapako-coached side gave a penalty and the Hohola lads took a 2-point conversion to ice the game. 

Dragons coach Jezreel Oyekawa said despite a short preparation, his boys stood up to the challenge and stamped their authority on the biggest stage, praising them for getting the job done.

The Lareva Dragons walked away with K10,000 prize money and the Morobe Pride received K5,000. Both teams, including the top 3 teams from legs 1 and 2 will compete for the K200,000 grand prize money in the final leg of the KCK Rigo Rice Cup.