Papua New Guinea national rugby union team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, seePapua New Guinea women's national rugby union team.

Papua New Guinea

Nickname	The Pukpuks
Union	Papua New Guinea Rugby Football Union
Head coach	Sydney Wesley
Firstcolours
World Rugby ranking
Current	84 (as of 16 January 2023)
First international
Papua New Guinea47–3New Hebrides (1966-12-01)
Biggest win
Papua New Guinea97–3Vanuatu (20 August 2005)
Biggest defeat
Samoa115–7Papua New Guinea (Apia,Samoa,11 July 2009)
Medal record Pacific Games 1966 Noumea 1969 Port Moresby

ThePapua New Guinea national rugby union team,nicknamed the Pukpuks, (Tok Pisinfor 'crocodiles'), played its first international in 1966, defeating Vanuatu 47–3. Papua New Guinea have not so far qualified for aRugby 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 theSouth Pacific Gamesin 1966. The team won all three matches againstNew Hebrides,New CaledoniaandWallis and Futunato win the gold medal.

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

Papua New Guinea entered a qualifying tournament for the1999 Rugby World Cupin 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 the2003 Rugby World Cupin Australia, playing in Round 1b of theOceania 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 the2007 Rugby World CupinFrance,Papua New Guinea started out in Round 1a of thetournament.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 inauguralFederation of Oceania Rugby Union (FORU) Cup(2007), defeatingNiuein the final by a score of 46–19. In the2009 Oceania Nations Cup,Papua New Guinea managed to beatVanuatu86–12 in the semifinals and in the final, beatCook Islands29–12. They then went on to playSamoain theOceania Qualificationfor the2011 Rugby World Cupwhere they got beaten 115–7 away and 73–12 at home. They were unable to qualify for the2011 Rugby World Cup.

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

World Cup record

World Cup record
Year	Round	P	W	D	L	F	A
1987	No qualifying tournament held
1991	did not enter
1995
1999	did not qualify
2003
2007
2011
2015
2019	Withdrew
2023	did not qualify
2027
Total	0/8	-	-	-	-	-	-

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.

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Draw	Win%	Last played	For	Aga	Diff
American Samoa	1	1	0	0	100%	2015	36	22	+14
Cook Islands	7	3	4	0	42.86%	2013	153	163	−10
Fiji	3	0	3	0	0%	1979	3	253	−250
Hong Kong	3	0	3	0	0%	2016	26	79	−53
Nauru	1	1	0	0	100%	2019	89	7	+82
New Caledonia	3	2	1	0	66.67%	1979	59	25	+34
New Hebrides	1	1	0	0	100%	1966	47	3	+44
Niue	3	3	0	0	100%	2019	111	44	+67
Russia	1	0	1	0	0%	2016	19	49	−30
Samoa	2	0	2	0	0%	2009	19	188	−169
Solomon Islands	8	8	0	0	100%	2019	284	97	+187
Sri Lanka	2	2	0	0	100%	1992	46	35	+11
Tahiti	3	3	0	0	100%	2015	163	48	+115
Tonga	2	0	2	0	0%	2002	26	135	−105
Vanuatu	5	5	0	0	100%	2011	339	28	+311
Wallis and Futuna	2	2	0	0	100%	1969	100	5	+95
Zimbabwe	1	0	1	0	0%	2016	11	38	−27
Total	50	32	18	0	64%	–	1564	1271	+293

Squad

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

• Aidan Toua-QRU
• Jordan Seladi (Capital Rugby Union)
• Tony Sipa (Capital Rugby Union)
• Freddy Andale (Capital Rugby Union)
• Mick Rau (Capital Rugby Union)
• Caleb Nipal (Capital Rugby Union)
• Eddie Nipal (Capital Rugby Union)
• George Wai (Capital Rugby Union)
• Barol Homerang (Capital Rugby Union)
• Jaran Pittan (Capital Rugby Union)
• Ron Butler (Capital Rugby Union)
• Kenneth Vagi (Capital Rugby Union)
• William Kalai (Capital Rugby Union)
• Anu Karai (Capital Rugby Union)
• Jonah Tokiong (Capital Rugby Union)
• Blake Mindipi (Capital Rugby Union)
• Francis Miria (Morobe)
• Cameron Wai (Morobe)
• Laho Posu (Morobe)
• Lindsay Yobone (Morobe)
• Paul Nelson (Morobe)
• Mafu Kalas (Morobe)
• Elias Patala (Morobe)
• Eddie Carl Soor (NCD Rugby Union)
• Ezekiel Dauko (NCD Rugby Union)
• Brendon Yenmoro (NCD Rugby Union)
• Jackson Waingut (NCD Rugby Union)
• Keith Frizzel (NCD Rugby Union)
• George Mark (East New Britain)
• Hosea Alfred (East New Britain)

See also

• Rugby union in Papua New Guinea

External links

• Papua New Guineaon IRB.com
• Papua New Guineaon Rugbydata.com
• [1]www.facebook.com