A try either side of half-time provided some brief respite for Fetu Samoa as they were overpowered 46-8 by the Kiwi Ferns in Auckland this afternoon on their return to international women's rugby league.
Double try-scorer Kiana Takairangi. Photo: Photosport
Playing their first test match for eight years, the Samoans found themselves trailing 4-0 in the opening minute of the match, after giving away a penalty on the fifth tackle, with former Cook Islands international Kiana Takairangi diving over for the opening try of the match in next phase.
Samoa finally got their hands on the ball with five minutes gone but it wasn't long before New Zealand doubled their lead, with Takairangi scoring her second try to put the Kiwi Ferns 8-0 ahead after only 10 minutes.
Kiana Takairangi. Rugby League International between the Kiwi Ferns and Fetu Samoa at Mt Smart Stadium, Saturday 22 June, 2019. Photo: Renee McKay / www.photosport.nz Photo: © Photosport Ltd 2019 www.photosport.nz
Captain Honey Hireme joined the party three minutes later, running over 50 metres and beating three defenders down the left-hand touchline to score her first of the match, while Kathleen Wharton and Raecene McGregor also breached the Samoan defence as the home side opened up a 26-0 buffer with less than half an hour gone.
Fetu Samoa began to get more opportunities with the ball in hand and it was former New Zealand international Billy-Jean Ale who powered over the line from 10 metres out, spinning out of one tackle and wrestling past two other defenders to score Samoa's first international points since 2011, cutting the deficit to 26-4 at half-time.
Fetu Samoas Billy-Jean Ale scores a try. Kiwi Ferns v Fetu Samoa, Mt Smart, New Zealand. 22 June 2019. © Copyright Image: Marc Shannon / www.photosport.nz. Photo: © Photosport Ltd 2019 www.photosport.nz
Samoa found the try-line again eight minutes into the second spell as Moana Fineaso-Levi finished one of the plays of the match in the left-hand corner, after the ball had been offloaded back inside the field of play.
But the Kiwi Ferns responded in kind with Honey Hireme scoring her second of the match, with the home side scoring three more unanswered tries to complete a comprehensive win.
Fetu Samoa perform the Siva Tau pre-match. Photo: © Photosport Ltd 2019 www.photosport.nz
