New Zealand’s women have achieved what their men could not, booking their spot in the Pacific Championship final with a 36-0 romp over Papua New Guinea at Port Moresby.
Two weeks after the Australia Jillaroos inflicted an 84-0 shellacking on the gallant Orchids, the Kiwi Ferns could not manage half that scoreline in a scrappy affair that never reached great heights.
Winger MacKenzie Wiki had a hattrick of tries, while Leianne Tufuga had a double on the other flank among their team’s six, while hapless PNG were left still seeking their first Test points against the NZ women in two meetings.
The home side were immediately on the backfoot, when Brianna Clark’s opening kickoff bounced dead and from the ensuing goal-line dropout, Tufuga scored the opening try. That all took just 70 seconds.
Moments later, Tufuga seemed to have a second try, after the Orchids didn’t allow another kick to land dead, but she bounced the ball, while attempting to force it.
That passage of play set the tone for the first half, as both sides struggled to find cohesion in the stifling heat. The Ferns made too many basic errors to mount an attack, while PNG tackled strongly to stay in the contest.
Tufuga eventually got her second when centre Mele Hufunga was virtually over the tryline, before feeding her hungry winger.
That score seemed to loosen the shackles, as second-rower Angelina Teakaraanga-Katoa took a pass from five-eighth Gayle Broughton at full steam and bulldozed a hapless defender on her way to the line.
Hufunga narrowly missed a try, when she chased Broughton’s grubber kick, but could not gather cleanly, despite an acrobatic dive to force before the deadball line.
Papua New Guinea did well to reach halftime at 16-0 down, 20 points closer than they managed against Australia.
They began the second half strongly, aided by some sympathetic officiating that gifted them a turnover, after they stripped Ferns captain Georgia Hale with four in the tackle. PNG skipper Elsie Albert was stopped just short of the line, as was fellow front-rower Essay Banu moments later.
New Zealand lost debutant forward Brooke Talataina, after she twisted badly in an awkward tackle. Otesa Pule lost a certain try, when the ball was dislodged from her grasp as she fell over the line.
From their next possession, the Ferns broke down the right, with Wiki — daughter of Kiwi league legend Ruben Wiki — given space near the touchline to score. Soon after, she also had a double, finishing off a slick set-play.
As the scoreline started to balloon, the Orchids had a rare chance, when their kickoff was allowed to bounce dead, but Broughton recovered the short dropout to defuse the risk.
PNG fullback Shae Yvonne de la Cruz collapsed at marker and Ash Quinlan took full advantage to scamper from dummy half and score between the posts.
The home team had another chance, when Wiki fumbled the kickoff, but the attack fizzled out, when Banu knocked on. They came closest, when winger Jenny Wesley was dragged into touch at the corner flag.
At the other end, Wiki missed a hattrick, when the final pass went behind her on the line, but she finally had her third, when the Papua New Guinea defence could not handle a crosskick from half Tyla King and the ball simply bounced into Wiki’s hands with the line open. King's missed conversion meant her team failed to match their previous scoreline at the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.
New Zealand will now defend their Pacific crown against world champions Australia in Sydney next weekend, while Papua New Guinea face Samoa to retain their spot in the championship.
NZ Kiwi Ferns 36 (Wiki 3, Tufuga 2, Teakaraanga-Katoa & Quinlan tries; King 4 conversions) Papua New Guinea 0
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