Kumuls dominant first half sets up comfortable win

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Papua New Guinea v Fiji

Papua New Guinea scored a comfortable 26-14 win in their Pacific Test against Fiji thanks solely to a blistering first half.

The Kumuls got off to a great start when Watson Boas pushed out of what seemed like a dominant tackle, ran to the left and then sent a great ball to the debutant Rau, who stepped back infield and dived over for a try in the corner. Rhyse Martin converted.

Just over three minutes later the Kumuls scored again, this time after Page received a panicked pass from Segeyaro on the last, 10 metres from the try line, pushed away a defender, spun around and then burst through a gap to score under the posts. Martin again converted.

Fiji's handling and last tackle options kept letting them down and after a 27th minute penalty goal to Martin, Fiji finally got on the board when Phillips stepped inside and brushed off a poor tackle attempt to force his way over for a try. Raiwalui failed to convert from out wide.

Papua New Guinea bagged two quick fire tries just before halftime. Olam produced a great drift and then flick out the back to Rau, who again steps inside the cover defenders to score in the corner. Martin again with a great sideline conversion.

Then in the first set from the restart, Segeyaro split the defence open and broke through the middle before linking with Olam, who ran 45 metres to score under the posts. Martin converted from in front to give Papua New Guinea a 26-4 lead at half time.

The second half saw Fiji get more ball, while the Kumuls were slightly less disciplined with their handling. In the 55th minute, Hayne put in a grubber down the left short side and Montoya miraculously planted the ball for a try just in time before it went dead. Raiwalui again failed to convert.

With 12 minutes left in the game, Naiqama sent a great ball to Vunvialu who tiptoed down a narrow passage to score in the right corner. Moceidreke nailed the sideline conversion.

With Fiji now trailing by 12 points, they started to throw the ball around a lot more, but could not add to their total and Papua New Guinea won 26-14.