Papua New Guinea national rugby union team explained

Papua New Guinea
Nickname:The Pukpuks
Badge:Papua New Guinea rugby.png
Badge Size:100px
Union:Papua New Guinea Rugby Football Union
Confederation:Oceania Rugby
Coach:Sydney Wesley
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World Rugby Rank:84
World Rugby Rank Date:16 January 2023
First Game: 47–3
(1966-12-01)
Largest Win: 97–3
(20 August 2005)
Largest Loss: 115–7
(Apia, Samoa, 11 July 2009)
Medaltemplates-Expand:yes

The Papua New Guinea national rugby union team, nicknamed the Pukpuks, (Tok Pisin for 'crocodiles'), played its first international in 1966, defeating Vanuatu 47–3. Papua New Guinea have not so far qualified for a Rugby World Cup. They participated in the Oceania World Cup qualifying tournaments for the 2007, 2011 and 2015 World Cups, but did not qualify.

History

See also: Rugby union in Papua New Guinea.

See also: Oceania Rugby Men's Championship. Papua New Guinea made their international rugby debut at the South Pacific Games in 1966. The team won all three matches against, and to win the gold medal.

As hosts for the following games held at Port Moresby in 1969, Papua New Guinea defeated New Caledonia again and the but lost to the eventual gold medalist to finish with the silver medal.

Papua New Guinea entered a qualifying tournament for the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Wales. Papua New Guinea competed in Round 1 of the Oceania qualifying tournament. Although they defeated Tahiti, they lost 22–19 against the Cook Islands. They finished second in the final standings.

They played in qualifying tournaments for the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia, playing in Round 1b of the Oceania tournament. Papua New Guinea defeated both the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to advance through to Round 3. In Round 3 Papua New Guinea faced the Cook Islands to advance to Round 4. In the final round, for repechage qualification, Papua New Guinea were defeated by Tonga.

In attempting to qualify for the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France, Papua New Guinea started out in Round 1a of the tournament. Papua New Guinea defeated the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to finish at the top of the standings to move through to Round 2. In Round 2 the Cook Islands went through to Round 4.

The Pukpuks won the inaugural Federation of Oceania Rugby Union (FORU) Cup (2007), defeating Niue in the final by a score of 46–19. In the 2009 Oceania Nations Cup, Papua New Guinea managed to beat Vanuatu 86–12 in the semifinals and in the final, beat Cook Islands 29–12. They then went on to play Samoa in the Oceania Qualification for the 2011 Rugby World Cup where they got beaten 115–7 away and 73–12 at home. They were unable to qualify for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Papua New Guinea hosted the 2011 edition of the FORU Oceania Cup, winning the tournament by defeating Vanuatu (78–3),[1] Solomon Islands (33–15)[2] and Niue (36–7).[3]

World Cup record

World Cup record
YearRound
1987Colspan=8No qualifying tournament held
1991Rowspan=2 Colspan=8did not enter
1995
1999Rowspan=5 Colspan=8did not qualify
2003
2007
2011
2015
2019Colspan=8Withdrew
2023Rowspan=1 Colspan=8did not qualify
2027
Total0/8------

Overall Records

Below is table of the representative rugby matches played by a Papua New Guinea national XV at test level up until 20 April 2020.[4]

TeamMatWonLostDrawWin%Last playedForAgaDiff
1 1 0 0 % 2015 36 22 +14
7 3 4 0 % 2013 153 163 −10
3 0 3 0 0% 1979 3 253 −250
3 0 3 0 0% 2016 26 79 −53
1 1 0 0 % 2019 89 7 +82
3 2 1 0 % 1979 59 25 +34
1 1 0 0 % 1966 47 3 +44
3 3 0 0 % 2019 111 44 +67
1 0 1 0 0% 2016 19 49 −30
2 0 2 0 0% 2009 19 188 −169
8 8 0 0 % 2019 284 97 +187
2 2 0 0 % 1992 46 35 +11
3 3 0 0 % 2015 163 48 +115
2 0 2 0 0% 2002 26 135 −105
5 5 0 0 % 2011 339 28 +311
2 2 0 0 % 1969 100 5 +95
1 0 1 0 0% 2016 11 38 −27
Total50 32 18 0 % 1564 1271 +293

Squad

Squad to Oceania Rugby Men's Championship (12 October 2022):

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2011-11-29 . PNG and Solomon Islands win in Oceania Cup . https://web.archive.org/web/20111201232547/http://www.irb.com/newsmedia/regional/newsid=2060706.html . 2011-12-01 . www.irb.com.
  2. Web site: 2011-12-01 . PNG remain unbeaten in Oceania Cup . https://web.archive.org/web/20111203220417/http://www.irb.com/newsmedia/regional/newsid=2060759.html . 2011-12-03 . www.irb.com.
  3. Web site: 2011-12-03 . PNG claim Oceania Cup 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111207085804/http://www.irb.com/newsmedia/regional/newsid=2060797.html . 2011-12-07 . www.irb.com.
  4. Web site: team records . espnscrum . 20 April 2020.