I was assigned to the Papua New Guinea team. Their rugby program for women only formed three years ago, but they have come a long way, baby! Their coach, Sailosi Druma, is a Fijian man who is very kind and nurturing, but when I observed him with the ladies in training, I could see that he had heaps of charisma and encouragement. The team has thrived under his careful guidance. And did I mention that they are tackling bandits? While we often think of speed in sevens, or at least I do and that is why I don't prefer to play it, in reality a tackle can change the entire flow of the match.
PNG had a difficult pool, playing against the home team of Hong Kong as well as the top three Asian qualifiers for the World Cup. In the end they placed third in the pool and battled the Arabian Gulf to win the bowl championship. The women told me that their goal this year was not to come in last place so they were beside themselves when they went home with some silverware.
I really, really enjoyed this team and their great attitudes, and I went far out of my way to assist them. Their warm ups got lost somewhere and did not arrive, and the poor women were very cold in Hong Kong. After seeing them huddling from the cold on Thursday, I went home and raided SB's winter clothing, filling bags with his ski shell (ski tag still attached to zipper), his windbreakers, my windbreaker, fleece vests and jackets, etc. It was a good idea because when they weren't playing, the women were wearing everything, even the ski hats. I have no idea of the temperature in PNG, but I guess it's warm! SB had a chuckle when we all saw each other in the HK Stadium sports bar and he saw all the women floating about in his over sized winter gear.
the team, in SB's winter clothing
The teams had a brutal day of five matches as well as playoffs so there were a good share of injuries. Compounded with a strange ruling that teams could only bring 10 players as opposed to 12, the result was that there were a lot of ragged looking ladies. One of the physios, KK, kindly allowed himself to be summoned by me and he single handedly put several ladies back together, massaging calves and backs, taping ankles, knees, and wrists, even having to pull a grossly dislocated finger back into normal shape because the poor woman wasn't done playing. The women had a bit of a thrill when they won the cup and turned to see him cheering them on. Like me, the PNG women won him over with their spirit and charm.
the lady wearing the flag also ran the 100 at the Beijing Olympics
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