2023 Week 3 Pacific Championships - Teams and Game Day

[The Greenhouse]

9th min TRY AUSTRALIA to Valentine Holmes, superb pick up of the Tedesco grubber to the corner. Holmes converts his own try from the sideline.

Australia 6-0

[The Greenhouse]

19th min TRY NEW ZEALAND to Briton Nikora, off the Jahrome Hughes kick to the in goal. Good work Tapine in the lead up. Converted.

Australia 6
New Zealand 6

Not a bad crowd, but not the sell out this match deserves.

[The Greenhouse]

22nd min TRY AUSTRALIA to Lindsay Collins. Isaako takes the bomb, knocks it back it seems, or perhaps the Kiwis strip it. The Hammer picks up the ball and Collins the beneficiary. Converted Holmes.

Australia 12-6

[The Greenhouse]

31st min TRY AUSTRALIA to Lindsay Collins. He gets a double. It's set up by the quick play the ball from Cameron Murray and the spark of Harry Grant. Valentine Holmes converts.

Australia 18-6

[The Greenhouse]

39th min TRY NEW ZEALAND to Ronaldo Mulitalo. He came in field and took the bomb to the try line. Jamayne Isaako converts from close to the posts.

Australian Kangaroos 18
New Zealand Kiwis 12

HALF TIME

[The Greenhouse]

You've got to love this!

[BJ]

Australia have got away with slowing down the ruck whenever NZ have made a dominant run. Ref needs to crack down on a few things.

[The Greenhouse]

Australia kick off to start the second half.

[Northern Raider]

Hammer makes things look so easy sometimes.

[The Greenhouse]

51st min TRY AUSTRALIA to Dylan Edwards in the corner. Not sure why he's in the team, he's clearly a fullback, but he runs the clear line to the white stripe in the corner. The Hammer gets the try assist. The Kiwis really are off their game, lacking intensity. So hopefully they're holding something in reserve for next week. Holmes converts.

Australia 24-12

[The Greenhouse]

53rd min PENALTY AUSTRALIA High shot on James Tedesco and NAS is on report.

[BJ]

Wasn’t the first knock on by Grant? How’d the bunker miss that one.

[The Greenhouse]

62nd min Joe Tapine and James Fisher Harris... a nasty head clash when they both go in for a tackle. Joe was felled so it is probably going to be an HIA. Joe has a clash over the right eye. Taped up and he'll continue it seems.

[The Greenhouse]

65th min PENALTY AUSTRALIA for two blockers around the New Zealand ruck, Kiwis in possession. Very unusual penalty. No replay shown for some reason.

PENALTY GOAL AUSTRALIA to Valentine Holmes.

Australia 26-12

Cherry Evans and Jake Trbojevic fail to stop the kick off from going dead. Forced line drop conceded.

[The Greenhouse]

70th min PENALTY NEW ZEALAND in the red zone. Australia off side after failing to defuse the bomb to the goal line.

TRY NEW ZEALAND to Fa'amanu Brown under the posts. Jamayne Isaako converts.

Australia 26
New Zealand 18

That score line is closer than the Kiwis deserve, really.

[The Greenhouse]

78th min TRY AUSTRALIA to Ben Hunt, drives over from short range. It follows a farcical forced line drop out conceded by the Kiwis, as they let the ball bounce. Nearly conceded a try as a result. Valentine Holmes converts.

Australia 32
New Zealand 18

That's probably a fair reflection of the performances of the two teams.

[The Greenhouse]

80th min TRY AUSTRALIA to Cameron Murray in the corner, off a good Nicho Hynes pass. Valentine Holmes cannot convert.

You'd hope that the Kiwis have another level for next week's final at Hamilton, New Zealand.

Australian Kangaroos 36
New Zealand Kiwis 18

FULL TIME

MATCH REPORT: Collins at the double as Kangaroos down Kiwis



The Australian Kangaroos got the better of the Kiwis in a 36-18 win on Saturday night, setting the scene for an intriguing Pacific Championships final showdown between the two nations next week in Hamilton.

Australia never trailed in the contest and after an opening 21 minutes in which the match ebbed and flowed, they always enjoyed a lead on the scoreboard, with a double from front-rower Lindsay Collins and the accurate boot of returning winger Valentine Holmes doing much of the damage in Melbourne.

Read more: https://www.nrl.com/news/2023/10/28/col ... own-kiwis/







GALLERY: Kangaroos v Kiwis: https://www.gettyimages.com.au/photos/k ... =776020117

[The Greenhouse]

Tonight's action is not over, with England taking on Tonga at 12:30am AEDT. The Test match is broadcast live on Fox League, with the broadcast kicking off at 12:15am. We will have live updates here: https://thegh.com.au/forum/viewtopic.ph ... 1#p1964071

[RedRaider]

Good win by the Aussies against NZ. The Australian side had better defence and shifted the ball faster and it made the difference imo.

[The Greenhouse]

Welcome to our coverage of today's Pacific Championships match between the Papua New Guinea Kumuls and the Fiji Bati at the National Stadium, Port Moresby. Broadcast on Fox League and Nine from 3:30pm. Kick off at 4:00pm. Live scores right here. Please join in with your own commentary.

No current Raiders in either line up, but some former Raiders in the Fiji team, Mikaele Ravalawa and Gordon Whippy.

Here are the latest teams:

Papua New Guinea

1. Alex Johnston 2. Robert Derby 3. Zac Laybutt 4. Benji Kott 5. Nene Macdonald 6. Kyle Laybutt 7. Lachlan Lam 8. Epel Kapinias 9. Edwin Ipape 10. Valentine Richard 11. Rhyse Martin 12. Dan Russell 13. Jack de Belin

14. Judah Rimbu 15. Wellington Albert 16. Keven Appo 17. Jacob Alick

18. Liam Horne

Fiji

1. Jahream Bula 2. Maika Sivo 4. Waqa Blake 5. Mikaele Ravalawa 18. Jason Qareqare 6. Kurt Donoghoe 7. Brandon Wakeham 8. Tui Kamikamica 9. Penioni Tagituimua 10. King Vuniyayawa 12. Apisalome Saukuru 13. Taane Milne 15. Caleb Navale

14. Noah Nailagoliva 16. Gordon Whippy 19. Mesake Ravonu 20. Sirilo Lovokuro

21. Pio Seci

[The Greenhouse]

Teams head onto the field at Port Moresby. Reasonable crowd, but not a sell out. Now for the national anthems and cultural ceremonies. Unfortunately, the music for the Fiji national anthem seems to have been recorded inside a tin can. The Fiji hymn some serious audio broadcast problems too, sadly.

[The Greenhouse]

The Kumuls kick off.

[greeneyed]

Concerning, really, that this is not a sell out, when the main attraction is the national team... and in the context of reports that the NRL is close to awarding a PNG team the 18th licence. I fear what will happen when the promised Australian government dollars dry up, would probably be a quick casualty of any change of government.

[The Greenhouse]

4th min TRY PAPUA NEW GUINEA to Alex Johnston, throws a dummy and he's in. It comes off a scrum play and it is easy, embarrassingly easy. Rhyse Martin fails to convert.

Papua New Guinea 4-0

[The Greenhouse]

13th min TRY FIJI to Kurt Donoghoe, after a kick to the in goal from Bula. A couple of players failed to ground it but the five eighth puts his hand on it eventually. Wakeham converts from out wide.

Fiji 6-4

[The Greenhouse]

18th min TRY FIJI to Tui Kamikamica right beside a post, good pass from hooker Penioni Tagituimua to set it up. Brandon Wakeham converts.

Fiji 12-4

[The Greenhouse]

33rd min TRY FIJI to Kurt Donoghoe, momentum carries him to the line. His second try of the day. Good attack and Fiji, the play goes more than 50 metres, with plenty of good passes and offloads. Brandon Wakeham converts. PNG are playing with 12 men after Keven Appo was sin binned for a dangerous tackle. But Fiji has come to play today.

Fiji 18-4

[The Greenhouse]

40th min FIELD GOAL FIJI from Brandon Wakeham.

Fiji Bati 19
Papua New Guinea Kumuls 4

[The Greenhouse]

Fiji kick off to start the second half.

[The Greenhouse]

47th min TRY FIJI to Maika Sivo in the corner. There is a shoulder charge in the lead up from the Kumuls winger Nene Macdonald. No doubt Sivo has grounded it. Brandon Wakeham on the sideline... misses the conversion.

Fiji 23-4

[The Greenhouse]

49th min TRY FIJI to Maika Sivo. Intercept and he runs 90 metres to score. The bunker finally confirms it. Wakeham converts.

Fiji 29-4

[The Greenhouse]

58th min TRY FIJI to Caleb Navale under the posts. It follows a penalty for obstruction on a Fiji kick chase. Brandon Wakeham converts.

Fiji 35-4

Short kick off from the Kumuls doesn't go 10 metres.

[The Greenhouse]

63rd min TRY PAPUA NEW GUINEA to Benji Kot, off an Alex Johnston pass. Very simple. Converted Martin. The crowd does seem to have filled out.

Fiji 35-10

[The Greenhouse]

67th min TRY FIJI to Jason Qareqare. He just took off and all the Kumuls players remained stationary. Converted Wakeham.

Fiji 41-10

[The Greenhouse]

75th min TRY PAPUA NEW GUINEA to Epel Kapinias, the big prop chasing the kick. Converted Martin from in front.

Fiji 43-16

The Kumuls knock on the kick off through Nene Macdonald.