papua new guinea

And already, the host country Papua New Guinea has refused entry for West Papuan activist, Benny Wenda, an indication of the controversy that surrounds the issue ahead of the 46th annual summit of Pacific Leaders in Port Moresby.

In Fiji, the Secretary General of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, Octovanius Mote was ‘quietly’ asked to leave the meeting of the Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF).

Cook Islands won the biennial event two years ago but will not defend their title, choosing to focus their limited resources on November's Olympic Sevens Qualifier.

Newcomers American Samoa open proceedings against Solomon Islands at Sir Hubert Murray Stadium, followed by hosts Papua New Guinea against Tahiti, in the first round of matches.

The General Manager of Rugby PNG, Frank Genia, says pride and silverware aren't the only things on up for grabs.

It was carved more than a century ago from a single piece of wood in a remote Papua New Guinea village. It has never been seen in Australia before.

Curator of Pacific Art Crispin Howarth said, “There are only 10 or 15 of these known in the world and this is the most fantastic.”

It had “aspects of male and female" to it and was collected in 1959 by an Australian patrol officer, he said.

The cult crocodile was carved from a single piece of wood without the use of metal tools and dates back more than a century.

The visiting team showed class in the close encounter but with the home crowd on their side PNG fought hard in the first and second quarter.

In the first quarter, New Caledonia took the lead 17-15.

In the second quarter, the combination of brothers James and Allan Wright helped PNG level the score at half time 38-38.

New Caledonia fought back in the second quarter with great three points shots from Stephane Saminadin put New Caledonia in the lead 60-52 at the third quarter break.

Tabakaucoro has to run in nine events over five days and this includes the heats of the 100m, the 200m and the 4x100m.

He never has had to run these many races over a continuous five day period but the man who all will be watching in PNG is ready.

“This is the first time I will be competing over five days, maximum I have done is three days. With extra days, I really have to be running smart in all my races," he said.