Fatima Rama

Fatima Rama (born 28 January 1981) is a Papua New Guinean football and rugby player. She played as a forward in football for the Papua New Guinea women's national football team. She has also represented PNG in rugby sevens and fifteens.

Fatima Rama

Personal information
Date of birth	(1981-01-28) 28 January 1981 (age 42)
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
	PAG Port Moresby
International career^‡
2014	Papua New Guinea	1^[2]	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 29 October 2014^[1]

Career

Rama was a senior women's national team representative in football (soccer) before she switched codes to become a rugby union player.

2018

Rama competed at the Oceania Rugby Women's Championship, she scored a try against Samoa in the tournament's opening match, however, her side lost 45–56.^[3]

2019–21

At the 2019 Sydney Women's Sevens, she scored a stunning try in the first half against the Black Ferns sevens despite her teams 38–5 loss.^[4][5] In April 2019, she was named in the sevens squad to compete at the Hong Kong Women's Sevens to qualify as a core team for the 2019–20 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series.^[6]

Rama represented Papua New Guinea in sevens at the 2019 Pacific Games in Apia, Samoa.^[7]

In 2021, due to her success in rugby union, the Satellite 7s executives decided to introduce the women's competition in hopes of finding more female players like her.^[8]

2023

Rama was the oldest player, at age 41, to take the field at the 2023 New Zealand Women's Sevens in January.^[5] She also competed at the 2023 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in April; she scored a try for PNG against Hong Kong in their ninth-place semi-final, her side lost 7–44.^[9]

Rama was named in PNG's fifteens squad for the 2023 Oceania Rugby Women's Championship in Gold Coast, Queensland.^[10] She started in the opening game of the tournament against Fiji, her side were scoreless in their 77–0 loss.^[11]

References

1. . Oceania Football Federation. 29 October 2014. Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
2. . Oceania Football Federation. 25 October 2014. Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
3. Singh, Zanzeer (2018-11-16). "Oceania Rugby Women's Championship: Samoa defeats PNG". FijiTimes. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
4. "Black Ferns women continue strong play at Sydney world sevens". Stuff. 2019-02-01. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
5. "Tuwai returns to boost Fiji at HSBC New Zealand Sevens". www.women.rugby. 2023-01-19. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
6. "Sport: PNG Women's 7s team at full strength for World Series Qualifier". RNZ. 2019-04-02. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
7. "PNG Rugby Union announces women's 7s team". Loop Nauru. 2019-06-27. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
8. "Rugby Union Challenge For Western Women". Loop PNG. 2021-12-30. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
9. "Hong Kong's men reach Challenger Series semi-finals, while women bounce back". South China Morning Post. 2023-04-21. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
10. "PNG RUGBY UNION INC". www.facebook.com. 2023-05-05. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
11. Biudole, Noa (2023-05-26). "Fijiana thrashes PNG in opener - FijiLive". fijilive.com. Retrieved 2023-05-26.