Pacific Cup/Bowl 2023 - Weekend 1 - AUS v SAM (Mens) AUS v NZ (Womens) PNG v Cooks (M) SAM v FIJI (W)

[Farmduck]

MEN’S SCHEDULE/DATES and TIMES (AEDT)

 

Sat, 14 October - Australia v Samoa - Townsville 8:10pm

Sun, 15 October - PNG v Cook Islands Port Moresby, 4:00pm

Sat, 21 October - New Zealand v Samoa - Auckland, 4:00pm

Sun, 22 October - Fiji v Cook Islands - Port Moresby, 4:00pm

Sat, 28 October - Australia v New Zealand - Melbourne, 8:10pm

Sun, 29 October - PNG v Fiji - Port Moresby, 4:00pm

 

Pool A final - TBD v TBD - Hamilton, 3:00pm

Pool B final - TBD v TBD - Port Moresby, 4:00pm

 

 

WOMEN’S SCHEDULE/DATES and TIMES (AEDT)

Sat, 14 October - Australia vs. New Zealand - Townsville, 6:00pm

Sun, 15 October - Samoa vs. Fiji - Port Moresby, 1:45pm

Sat, 21 October - New Zealand vs. Tonga - Auckland, 1:45pm

Sun, 22 October - PNG vs. Cook Islands - Port Moresby, 1:45pm

Sat, 28 October - Australia vs. New Zealand - Melbourne, 6:00pm

[Farmduck]

I can't find today's lineups yet, at least not in an easily copied format. Fox Sports should have them soon so I'll check later.

[Farmduck]

[Farmduck]

Tamika Upton under the posts in first 5 minutes

[Farmduck]

Annessa Biddle try out wide for Ferns. Macgregor missed the goal

AUS 6 - 4

[Farmduck]

Caitlin Johnson crashes over from short range.

9 minutes to HT. Still pretty tight game. I thought the Townsville weather would have caught up with a few players by now.

Brigginshaw goal

AUS  12 - 4

[Farmduck]

3 mins to HT and Upton scores again from a scrum move

[Farmduck]

Brigginshaw missed the goal

 

AUS 16 - 4

[Farmduck]

HT:  AUS 16 - 4

 

I don't get it with these womens games this year. It's not a tournament, just a collection of random games. NZ is the only team that plays 3 games, AUS plays 2, both against NZ, with a week off in the middle. Why don't they play Fiji or Samoa in the off week. Not every game needs to be a curtain-raiser for  a mens game. Just play it on a Friday night at Penrith. The evenings are nice and warm now so they might get 10K for a standalone game.

Edited October 14, 2023 by Farmduck

[Farmduck]

Hufanga barges over for a try.

Macgregor kicks the goal

Kiwis 10 - 16

[Farmduck]

FT:  Jillaroos  16   Ferns  10

[Farmduck]

[Dunbar]

Will catch up with the Women's game later.

Looking forward to the Australia Samoa men's game now.

Big ask for Samoa - this Kangaroos team looks good.

[Dunbar]

This is going to be a blowout. 

[Graham]

That slow start by Samoa against a lively Aussie side cost them the game.

Samoa competed better after that. The Aussie tries at the very end of each half saw the scoreboard end up looking good for them. The Fox NRL headline spoke to a 7-2 try score calling it a destruction of Somoa.

The star rising in the Samoan side was Sualauvi Faalogo. The young man has played just a few minutes of NRL with Melbourne, but showed his potential with a fine and confident performance in the game. Sad that his No try didn’t count as it was good to watch.

Edited October 14, 2023 by Graham

[Graham]

Full Time 

Australia 38-12 Samoa

[Graham]

[Farmduck]

 

I probably won't watch this live, too much household upkeep-type jobs backed up, etc.

[Graham]

A convincing win for PNG.

An early worry was the serious looking injury to Cook Islands halfback Tevin Arona. He was laid out senseless just having his head in the wrong place when making a tackle.

The game was stopped for an extended period until he was eventually stretchered off.

News later came in from hospital that he has been cleared of a spinal fracture. Hopefully he will be cleared of any serious injury.

[Graham]

Summary

 

[welshmagpie]

The next 8-12 years will be interesting for the Cooks. Their player pool is fast decreasing in number and the gap between themselves and the other Pacific nations will only widen in my opinion. 

[DoubleD]

On 15/10/2023 at 23:03, welshmagpie said:

The next 8-12 years will be interesting for the Cooks. Their player pool is fast decreasing in number and the gap between themselves and the other Pacific nations will only widen in my opinion. 

Yeah I agree. They've got Moale and Iro coming through but they already struggle to compete and that will only get worse...........relying on 34yr old Takairangi as your half back. Don't see how they really fit into the Pacific Cup in the future, they will increasingly become cannon fodder. 

Ioka showed up well though

[Bamboozle]

On 15/10/2023 at 23:03, welshmagpie said:

The next 8-12 years will be interesting for the Cooks. Their player pool is fast decreasing in number and the gap between themselves and the other Pacific nations will only widen in my opinion. 

Hate to say it but unfortunately the cook lslands are a dead end for international RL due to their tiny population which is less than featherstone I believe.

[welshmagpie]

6 hours ago, DoubleD said:

Yeah I agree. They've got Moale and Iro coming through but they already struggle to compete and that will only get worse...........relying on 34yr old Takairangi as your half back. Don't see how they really fit into the Pacific Cup in the future, they will increasingly become cannon fodder. 

Ioka showed up well though

Their chairman recently called for a change to eligibility rules to allow nations to include 3 players who qualify by great-grandparent.

Samoa & Tonga’s Australian populations are also on the decline too.

I won’t be surprised if this doesn’t become reality over the next couple of cycles.