Pukpuks gearing up for Hong Kong 10s

PNG Pukpuks are in preparation for their upcoming Tens Tournament to be hosted in Hong Kong from April 3-4, 2024. It is a pre-series tournament leading up to the 7s tourney.

The Pukpuks train-on squad had an in-house trial game to work on their match fitness, combination and team chemistry on Saturday, March 23rd, at Bava Park in Port Moresby.

A total of 15 players will travel to Hong Kong to take part in the annual ten-a-side series. The final squad will be announced on Monday, March 25th.

After participating in the HSBC World Challenger Series in Dubai earlier in January, the Pukpuks are now focusing to compete in the Hong Kong 10s and hopefully fare well in the tourney.

Team Manager, Shane Amean, shows confidence in his players, who have done the hard yards in the last few weeks and are looking forward to participating in the tournament.

“For today’s light friendly match, what we tried to achieve was basically give an idea to the boys on how to structure their game and also give them an opportunity to run up against the team that was ready to tackle them,” Amean said.

“There was a lot that we learnt from, especially individually. We will tidy up those fundamental areas next week before we depart for the tournament in Hong Kong. Everything is looking good.”

Mr. Amean was pleased to see a few development squad players showing up to train and play alongside the senior players.

“It’s great to see the development squad turned up as well. They came to support and test our match fitness, allowing us to run our game structure and pattern,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Pukpuks 10s squad leave for Hong Kong on Sunday, March 31st, 2024. The boys are looking forward to the challenge.