PAPUA NEW GUINEA 6 COOK ISLANDS 34
TOM SMITH, Santos National Football Stadium, Port Moresby
PAULINA MORRIS-PONGA bagged a hat-trick as the Cook Islands silenced the Port Moresby crowd with a comprehensive win over Papua New Guinea.
Cronulla playmaker Chantay Kiria-Ratu expertly pulled the strings in the halves, while younger sister Anne-Marie Kiria-Ratu made an impressive Test debut in the back row, two years after an eleventh-hour ACL injury robbed her of an international bow.
Orchids coach Tahnee Norris had the luxury of naming a very similar side to the Prime Minister’s XIII clash against Australia six days prior, but the Cook Islands’ weight of NRLW experience came to the fore in the heat.
Wigan Super League winner Emily Veivers got the hosts on the board first with a converted try after skipper Elsie Albert went close.
But the rest of the contest went all the way of the women in green.
Morris-Ponga found her first thanks to a perfect Lydia Turua-Quedley cut-out, before Chantay Kiria-Ratu sliced through.
Fleur Ginn produced a brilliant last-line-of-defence try-saver on a runaway Anne-Marie Kiria-Ratu but there was no stopping Morris-Ponga in the left corner.
Left winger Hannah Makira made it 20-6 at the break and Memory Paitai continued the momentum after the restart.
The Orchids spurned their opportunities while the Moana continued to take theirs, as Kerehitina Matua barged over and Morris-Ponga nabbed her third.
PNG: 1 Fleur Ginn (Parramatta Eels), 5 Naomi Kelly (Central Dabaris), 3 Tia Molo (Redcliffe Dolphins), 4 Marie Biyama (Western Clydesdales), 20 Ruth Gende (Port Moresby Vipers), 6 India Seeto (Easts Tigers), 7 Caitlin Tanner (Mackay Cutters), 8 Elsie Albert (Parramatta Eels), 14 Emily Veivers (Wigan Warriors), 13 Jessikah Reeves (Wests Tigers), 11 Sareka Mooka (Northern Pride), 12 Leila Kerowa (Central Dabaris), 16 Gloria Kaupa (Wests Tigers). Subs (all used): 9 Therese Aiton (Western Clydesdales), 10 Emmogen Taumafai (Sunshine Coast Falcons), 15 Essay Banu (North Queensland Cowboys), 19 Belinda Gwasamun (Mount Hagen Eagles)
Tries: Veivers (8); Goals: Veivers 1/1
COOK ISLANDS: 1 Kiana Takairangi (Parramatta Eels), 2 Paulina Morris-Ponga (Akarana Falcons), 3 Kiarah Siauane (Souths Logan Magpies), 4 Deleni Paitai (Brisbane Bears), 5 Hannah Makira (Canterbury Bulldogs), 6 Lydia Turua-Quedley (New Zealand Warriors), 7 Chantay Kiria-Ratu (Cronulla Sharks), 8 Lavinia Kitai (New Zealand Warriors), 9 Pearl Tuitama (Ipswich Jets), 15 Ashlee Matapo (New Zealand Warriors), 11 Anne-Marie Kiria-Ratu (Cronulla Sharks), 19 Kaiyah Atai (New Zealand Warriors), 13 Jazmon Tupou-Witchman (South Sydney Rabbitohs). Subs (all used): 10 April Ngatupuna (Queensland Reds – RU), 14 Kerehitina Matua (Canberra Raiders), 16 Ngatokotoru Arakua (Souths Logan Magpies), 17 Memory Paitai (Brisbane Bears)
Tries: Morris-Ponga (12, 22, 66), C Kiria-Ratu (14), Makira (34), Paitai (43), Matua (60); Goals: C Kiria-Ratu 3/7
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 6-6, 6-12, 6-16, 6-20; 6-24, 6-30, 6-34
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Women of the Match
PNG: Emily Veivers; Cook Islands: Paulina Morris-Ponga
Penalty count: 8-7; Half-time: 6-20; Referee: Todd Smith