Jillaroos power past Kiwi Ferns in Cup final
AUSTRALIA have won back-toback women’s Rugby League World Cups, beating New Zealand 23-16 in the final on Saturday night.
The Kiwi Ferns brought plenty to the game, but must be ruing their inability to score points when they had the Jillaroos under pressure.
The Kiwi Ferns regularly bent the Australian line, but the Jillaroos’ defence remained structured when backed up against their line.
But New Zealand didn’t defend well and conceded tries too easily.
New Zealand won the first three women’s World Cup, with the competition beginning in 2000.
They had also won 15 of the 20 previous tests played against the Jillaroos.
But Australia have been showing in recent years they’re now a match for New Zealand.
They beat the Kiwi Ferns 20-12 in the final of the tournament in Leeds four years ago and in the Auckland Nines series of matches this year, all three went Australia’s way.
Clearly these were the best two teams in this six-team tournament by some distance, but which one was the best?
Well, the Kiwi Ferns came out showing plenty of aggression, looking to put plenty of early pressure on the 2013 world champions.
It came to nothing, though, as Australia’s Renee Kunst made a big break up the middle and a couple of passes later Isabelle Kelly was in for a try.
New Zealand struck quickly through winger Honey Hireme, who scored her 12th try of the tournament, latching onto a great long, looping pass from Raecene McGregor.
Kimiora Nati’s conversion locked up the score at 6-6.
In the 17th minute New Zealand prop Lilieta Maumau was held up over the line as the Kiwi Ferns tried to take the lead for the first time.
A couple of minutes later, Australia’s Chelsea Baker knocked on a bomb under the Jillaroos post.
From the ensuing scrum the ball was quickly moved to the left edge and Hireme bagged her second try of the night.
That score seemed to knock the confidence of the tournament’s hosts and some big hits from the Kiwi Ferns forwards helped them stay dominant, while some sloppy play crept into Australia’s game.
But the Kiwi Ferns were unable to get any points from that pressure and it was Australia who scored next, with Caitlin Moran dancing through the New Zealand defence for a great solo try. It put the Jillaroos up 12-10 at the break.
The Kiwi Ferns made a couple of bad errors early in the second half and in the 51st minute Teuila Fotu-Moala lost the ball in the tackle just a few metres from Australia’s line.
The Jillaroos made New Zealand pay for that mistake as Kelly scored her second try soon after, latching on to a grubber kick, then racing ahead of a scrambling defence for a try.
Jillaroo Elianna Walton smashed her way through the Kiwis’ goal-line defence in the 57th minute, then five-eighth McGregor took an offload from Krystal Murray to score the Kiwi Ferns’ third try 10 minutes from time, to get within a converted try of Australia.
A further chance came almost came two minutes later, but Shontelle Woodman lost the ball when attempting to ground it on the last tackle, capping a frenetic end to the game. The Jillaroos confirmed their champion status when Caitlin Moran kicked a field goal in the final minute.