The Australian Wallaroos put on a clinical performance in Suva on Saturday evening to defeat the Fijiana by a wide margin.
They simply did the basics right and kept to their fast gameplan to win by 43 points to 7. A small crowd stayed to witness this special event, for it was the first time for the Australia Wallaroos to play in Fiji.
This test match was a crucial one for both teams as it sets the tone for this RWC year. The Rugby World Cup is scheduled from August 22- September 27 in England.
On Saturday it was Fiji that scored the first try. Captain Alfreda Fisher drove low and hard to score their first (and what would be their only try), just seven minutes into the game.
The test match was a huge occasion for Fisher as she became the youngest ever captain for the women’s national rugby team. The lanky flanker gave it her all in the field to show great grit to fight for the full 80 minutes.
But after the first try, the Wallaroos took it up a notch. They began to spread the ball quickly from the breakdowns with halfback Layne Morgan dictating the pace of the game. She was instrumental in creating opportunities for her team.
Australia 7s star, Bienne Terita played outside center and began to run riot in the midfield. She was too quick and powerful for the Fijiana women and scored two of the five tries scored in the first half.
Eva Karpani took the field about 30 minutes into the game. The frontrower brought more havoc to the Fijiana defence line. Karpani is always a game winner for Australia.
Wallroos loose-trio, Ashley Masters, Siokapesi Palu and Tabua Tuinakauvadra combined well at the back of the scrums. They are big, powerful and fast, a deadly combination against any opponent.
Despite it being a tough one for Fijiana, there were some positives. Second rower Jade Coates had a massive shift. She was relentless in the tackles; showed great support and ball play in open space; and did a decent job jumping in the lineouts.
The biggest enemy for the Fijiana were the knock-ons. They just could not fully execute a move because of too many handling errors. This is one area Fiji will be working on as they move towards the RWC.
After the match, Wallaroos Captain Siokapesi Palu said: “It’s a mindset game. We know that Fiji is very physical and spontaneous. We were slow to start but as we started to build our points then confidence started to come in and we were able to exploit some of the opportunities. We wanted to play on our terms. We wanted to play fast. I think at some point we were able to do that. A lot of our tries came from broken plays so we just made sure we were on top”
Fijiana XV head coach, Ioan Cunnigham was positive “I think we showed passion, determination and grit as a team. We showed some awesome defense sets early in the match which led to a try. And also near the end we showed courage, togetherness and unity to keep Australia out. There’s a lot of learning for us to do in our game. We have to grow our game management from understanding when to kick and when to run, which we’ll work on in the next couple of weeks. I’m super proud of the effort of the team”.
Fiji will now prepare to host the Oceania Women’s Rugby Tournament in Sigatoka from June 6-14. This tournament will also include Tonga and Samoa.
Meanwhile the Australian Wallaroos look forward to playing the New Zealand Black Ferns next week to open their Pacific Four Series campaign. The Pacific Four Series include Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States of America.
