The New Caledonia men's Sevens team is happy with the exposure they have had during the 2019 Pacific Games tournament despite losing a number of their games in the pool competition.

Team Manager, Maic Barre, told the Samoa Observer that the condition of the grounds was difficult but the experience the team had in the competition was good. 

He said they won their first game against Wallis and Futuna but lost to Nauru 21-17, which he said was a disappointment as Nauru won in the last minute.

“We won against Wallis and Futuna but its the condition of the place was so difficult to play and I think it's a good experience. But we lose to Nauru on the last minutes of the game, we are very disappointed about it, but we want to finish well,” he added. 

New Caledonia 7s team captain, Roche Emmanuel, said it was a great experience for his team to play against other teams from the region.

But losing to Nauru in their second game of the 7s competition at the Marist Saint Joseph stadium was disappointing. 

 “It's a bit disappointed that we lose to Nauru but they were worth the game, well the competition is keep on going."

Barre said their third game against the Cook Islands was a hard game as their opponents had a professional rugby player in their team.

“Playing against Cook Islands and I think it's very difficult because they are professional they have a New Zealand player,” he added. 

This is unlike New Caledonia who are not professional 7s players and had only been playing together for one to two years before the Pacific Games. 

“All the boys in New Caledonia team are not professional in playing Sevens because they play only for one or two years."

New Caledonia was defeated by Cook Islands 14-7 and also suffered loss to American Samoa 19-24 in their final pool game of the competition.