Hard work pays off for Hangan Pirates

Months of hard work, commitment and sacrifice has paid off for the Hangan Pirates following their 17-12 extra-time golden point victory over the Jokers to claim the 2026 Sports Tok Rugby 7s open men's bowl.

Running out at the Santos National Football Stadium in Port Moresby during the Easter weekend, the Tsitalato boys were one of the many standouts in this year's tournament, led by former PNG Pukpuk and now coach Hubert Tsiperi, the Pirates won't be heading home empty handed this time around unlike their previous outing in 2024.

After going down with a loss 26-14 to the Newtown Chiefs, the Hangan Pirates turned the tides, pulling off five consecutive wins including the bowl final win over the Jokers.

Standing on the sidelines as coach this time around, after hanging up the boots in rep football, Coach Tsiperi was humbled with the bowl finals victory.

"I just want to say thank you to all the players, for the last two months they've been committed themselves, and their sacrifice has come to fruition," Tsiperi said in tok pisin.

Giving a brief background on the team, Tsiperi said the Hangan Pirates are made up of youths from the village,30 years of age and below, and many are not new to playing together, having been mentored by him since they were in their Under-20's.

"Majority of the players in the team were my Under-20 players two years ago and I have been consistently pushing them to play hard so that we can give them exposure at this level," he added.

The former Black Orchid speedster was also overwhelmed by the support that came from the Bougainville community in Port Moresby who turned up in numbers to cheer them on.

The Hangan Pirates journey to the Sports Tok Rugby 7s tournament was made possible through their own fundraisers, with support from small businesses from their community including additional support from the Bougainville Regional MP Peter Tsiamalili Jnr and North Bougainville MP Francesca Semoso.

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