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Papua New Guinea Kumuls put up a commendable performance

Our Papua New Guinea Kumuls put up a gutsy performance against England before going down 32-22 in Townsville, Australia, last night as the Englishmen survived a tough fired-up challenge from Papua New Guinea to win their opening match at the rugby league World Cup.

 

It seemed that most, if not all, of Papua New Guinea was glued to their TV sets last night cheering their heads off.

 

My kids were oblivious to the world as the Kumuls dominated the first half.

The English trailed the Kumuls 16-12 at halftime and were heading for an embarrassing first-up loss before rallying in the second half for a six tries to four victory in tropical conditions in northern Queensland.

Leeds Rhinos winger Lee Smith scored a hattrick of tries on debut, two of them in the opening half as England overcame their opening examination in cut-throat Pool One, which also features leading title hopes, Australia and New Zealand.

Papua New Guinea gave the game away in the second half through mistakes and poor discipline.

 

Brian Noble on England's narrow win

Caption: Paul Wellens is caught between PNG duo Tuu Maori and George Keppa

By Brian Noble
Wigan Warriors coach and BBC analyst

England were probably a little surprised by the enthusiasm shown by the Papua New Guinea team in Saturday's World Cup opener but despite the narrow margin of victory, it was a great workout for Tony Smith's side.

PNG showed up strongly and were really close to causing a major upset. But at the end of the day for England it was about getting the win and the points in the group.

It was a nervous and anxious night for England supporters but their team showed enough composure and patience in the second half to get the win.

When Tony Smith sits down and has a look back at the game, he will think it was what England needed. They can use that performance as a template for the next games in the competition and improve against Australia next weekend.

PNG probably played to their full potential but England are smart enough to recognise that they cannot afford to play as they did here in Townsville against Australia and New Zealand. I'm sure the Australian media will give them a hard time over this result but that's the nature of the beast.

The fact that England were not at their best is probably a good thing at this early stage of the competition. It is important to remember that it's not how you start - it's how you finish - and they could have three or four more games to play as the tournament goes on.

The defence looked a bit rusty but you could expect that. You are going to get caught with a couple of things you probably would not do when you are completely on your game.

The game and the result will help wake England up and make them recognise that this competition is alive and vibrant and you are not going to walk over anybody in it.

Tony Smith will probably be a bit relieved because all coaches have horrible nights when the bounce of the ball does not go your way and you commit more errors than you would like to, but he will be pleased with the win.

I thought Rob Burrow and James Roby sparked England at crucial times. Adrian Morley and Jamie Peacock looked better for the run-out and Maurie Fa'asavalu and James Graham also looked good going forward.

There was a fantastic atmosphere in the stadium with the locals backing the Kumuls and they responded with great enthusiasm.

For PNG, the Hull KR duo of Stanley Gene and Makali Aizue were outstanding, as was their hooker Charlie Wabo, who came on from the bench and did some great things.

Stanley, who led his side superbly, belies the years and keeps putting in superb performances. He's done it for Hull KR a couple of times this season and who knows how long he can go on for?

It's alleged that he has four passports where his age ranges from 44 to 34 and his true age is probably somewhere in between. Having coached him at Bradford for a year, I've seen a passport with 42 on it!

I think PNG really fancied turning over England here and that's what made for such an exciting game.

This may have been their best chance to beat one of the big three teams. Australia and New Zealand may not see as much enthusiasm from the Kumuls as we saw here.

Brian Noble was speaking to BBC Sport's Elizabeth Hudson

England survive World Cup opener scare

TOWNSVILLE, Australia: England survived a tough challenge from fired-up Papua New Guinea to win their opening match at the rugby league World Cup 32-22 here yesterday, Gulf Daily News reports. The English trailed the Kumuls 16-12 at halftime and were heading for an embarrassing first-up loss before rallying in the second half for a six tries to four victory in tropical conditions in northern Queensland. Leeds Rhinos winger Lee Smith scored a hattrick of tries on debut, two of them in the opening half as England overcame their opening examination in cut-throat Pool One, which also features leading title hopes, Australia and New Zealand. The fourth finishing team in the pool is eliminated and the pressure is now on PNG to upset either the Kiwis or the Kangaroos to have a hope of playing in the semi-finals of the 10-team tournament. St Helens winger Ade Gardner scored twice with Warrington centre Martin Gleeson England's other tryscorer, while Leeds Rhinos' Kevin Sinfield landed four goals. The Kumuls' tries came from Penrith hooker Paul Aiton, Jason Chan, Rod Griffin and George Kepa, with skipper and Salford Reds' fullback John Wilshere landing three goals. England were made to fight all the way before securing the win and fell behind at halftime to the committed Kumuls, featuring several players from the English Super League and Australia's National Rugby League. PNG were unable to maintain their intensity in the second half, although Aiton ended the English second-half domination by scoring a consolation try in the 75th minute. But England will need to lift on their opening effort for their second match of the tournament against hosts and nine-time World Cup champions Australia in their next game in Melbourne on November 2. The Kumuls head to the Gold Coast to try and stay alive against the Kiwis next Saturday. New Zealand and Australia play in Sydney today.

PACIFIC ACP STATES COMMITTED TO CONTINUE NEGOTIATING EPA WITH EU AS SINGLE REGION

The Pacific ACP States have reaffirmed their commitment to continue the negotiations of an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU) “as a single region” based on existing negotiating positions as agreed last March.

At the two-day PACP Trade Ministers Meeting (PACPTMM) held in Nadi, Fiji 20 – 21 October, the Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to conclude the negotiations as a unified region and their support for the efforts made to date by PACP Officials supported by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS).

In considering a progress report on the state of negotiations, Ministers recognized that while progress had been made on various technical issues at the September meeting of PACP and European Commission (EC) officials, a number of significant EPA issues remained outstanding that would require some time to work through.  They directed their officials to continue their efforts in that regard and to meet directly with the EC side when such a meeting was required to make significant progress

The PACP Trade Ministers agreed that it would also be useful to discuss the region’s approach to the EPA during the November meetings of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, and PACP – EU Joint Parliamentarians with their European counterparts in Vanuatu.

The Ministers also considered the possibility of launching a PACP Ministerial Mission to selected European capitals to seek their support for the PACP States’ position on the EPA.

The PACP Trade Ministers agreed that the Solomon Islands Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Relations, Hon. William Haomae, who is currently the Alternate Lead Spokesperson for the EPA negotiations, will temporarily assume the role of PACP Lead Spokesperson.

The meeting also discussed the Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement, (PICTA) the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) Plus with Australia and New Zealand and other trade-related issues and gave directions for follow-up action by officials and the PIFS to strengthen regional integration among the Forum Island Countries (FICs) and to deepen trade and economic cooperation between FICs, Australia and New Zealand.

Trade Ministers from the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu attended the meeting.  The Republic of the Marshall Islands and Palau were represented by senior Trade Officials.

The meeting was chaired by Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, Fiji’s interim Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Provincial Government and Multi-Ethnic Affairs.

For more information, contact Dr Roman Grynberg on phone 679 331 2600 or email: romang@forumsec.org.fj

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Toyota Sprint Triathlon

The Toyota Sprint Triathlon will definitely be realised on Saturday November 1. 

Adverts will be placed in the local daily newspapers plus stories on the radio. 

Organisers say there are enough keen athletes to run the event. 

Entries are still coming in and they are confident they can attract a minimum of 14 athletes - comprising of men and women.

 

You reap what you sow

All forms of gardening are rewarding and satisfying.

But vegetable gardening, largely because the gardener can be in charge of the whole operation from seed collection to consumption, is possibly the most-rewarding.

In addition, well-grown home-produced vegetables cannot be matched for flavour and nutritional value.

And with care, considerable savings – especially in a city like Port Moresby – in the family’s food budget are possible.

Port Moresby, unlike a place like Goroka – where you can grow all types of succulent, mouth watering vegetables – has an arid year round climate.

(This is apart from a brief respite during the December to March period, when the rain comes down in buckets and vegetables – especially corn – abound all over the capital city.)

An old Chimbu man living in the capital is disproving this by growing pak choi (Chinese cabbage), tomatoes, pumpkins, taro, bananas, pawpaw, sugar cane, beans, shallots, aibika, corn, tapioca, yams and pineapple, among others.

All this from a swampy, stinky, grass-covered piece of land just past the Stop and Shop supermarket at Rainbow, Gerehu.

Miuge Opi, from Nombuna village in Kerowagi, Chimbu province, is also making a killing when he sells his fresh vegetables at market.

And mind you, he doesn’t use fertiliser from the shops, rather, dry leaves from nearby trees as compost and mulch.

My daughter and I met him recently while walking down from the supermarket, and as I admired his vegetables, we got into a chinwag and he gave me two free samples of pak choi to try out for lunch.

Necessity, in a city like Port Moresby where the cost of living is very high, made Mr Opi turn to the land.

He was left high and dry in Port Moresby a couple of years ago when he came with his sister to collect his late brother-in-law’s final entitlements.

His sister, Mr Opi says, squandered up the money and he had no means of surviving in Port Moresby.

His respite, fortunately, came in the form of this vacant piece of land beside a smelly drain.

“I have 12 children and two wives back home in Chimbu,” Mr Opi confides.

“I was worried about how I could get back home when no-one could help me to buy an airline ticket.

“I saw that the answer was on the land, government land, covered in swamp and grass.

“I cleaned it up and started to make a garden.

“I planted Chinese cabbages, tomatoes, pumpkins, taro, bananas, pawpaw and others.

“I saw that there was good money in this and was a means for me to earn money honestly and through hard work to travel home.”

Every day, Mr Opi walks down from Gerehu Stage Two, works the land until late, and if his vegetables are ready for harvest, he takes them straight to market.

“I work in the morning and in the afternoon I sell my vegetables,” he says.

“Many people like my fresh garden produce.

“I make K60-K70 a day on good days, while on slow days, I make K30 or K40.

“Don’t be idle, you must work the land.

“Money is in the land.

“I have tried this out and I already have a lot of money, more than enough to travel home for Christmas.”

Next time you’re driving to Gerehu, past the Stop and Shop supermarket, slow down and take a look at the drain to your left.

Chances are, you’ll Miuge Opi amidst his admirable vegetable patch, and you might even be able to pick and buy fresh-from-the-garden veggies.