Upton and Chapman lead Indigenous Women to victory

Embed from Getty Images

Indigenous Womens All Stars v Maori Womens All Stars

Jamie Chapman was awarded player of the match as the Women's Indigenous side overcame the powerful Women's Maori side 18-8 at Commbank Stadium on Saturday evening.

The All-Stars weekend got underway with an entertaining contest between the Indigenous and Moari women's sides. Both sides fullbacks were the stars for each team, trading brilliant try assists, but it was the brilliance of Tamika Upton that split the teams in the end.

The first quarter was scoreless but not without any entertainment. The Maori defence starred, with several jolting tackles early on allowing the Maori women to get the early advantage, however the break came at the wrong time for them and gave the Indigenous side a reprieve and a chance to reset, which they took full advantage of.

In the third minute Tahlulah Tillett executed a chip and chase, but could not hang onto the ball, dropping it just a few metres shy of the try line, which was wide open.

In the eleventh minute, Tiana Raftstrand-Smith very nearly scored but she was tackled just shy of the line, however she could not refuse the temptation to try and score and lost the ball shy of the stripe.

The second quarter saw the Indigenous side slowly work their way back into the game and in the 24th minute, they were the first side to score, when Jamie Chapman took an intercept and raced 90 metres to score untouched near the posts. Kirra Dib converted from almost in front.

In the 27th minute the Maori very nearly hit back, when Racene McGregor put in a deft grubber which bounced awkwardly for Upton, before Kennedy Cherrington regathered and very nearly barged over, only to drop the ball in the tackle just centimetres from the line.

Two minutes later and the Maori finally got on the board when Botille Vette-Walsh put on a great turn of speed to explode through a gap out wide, stepped inside Upton but couldn't evade her tackle. Vette-Walsh get a pass on to Raftstrand-Smith who then linked with Autumn-Rain Stephens Daly who scored in the corner. Zahara Temara could not convert from touch.

At halftime, the Indigenous side led 6-4.

Four minutes into the second half was all it took before more points were scored. The Indigenous side were in the attacking red zone and sent the ball left to Upton at second receiver, who then threw a stunning cut-out flat pass to Chapman who scored untouched in the corner. Dibbs added the extras with a brilliant sideline conversion.

Two minutes from the end of the third quarter saw the Maori hit back when Tamara linked with Vette-Walsh close to the Indigenous line, where she dummied and then passed to Stephens Daly who scored a second try in the corner. Tamara was again unable to convert from touch.

An exciting raid by the Maori after the third quarter siren had sounded very nearly led to an exhilarating try after a kick over the top by Tamara was regathered by Corban Baxter, who started a string of 3 perfectly executed offloads, however the last pass didn't stick and Upton dived on the loose ball to end the quarter.

Shortly after the resumption of play Tommaya Kelly-Sines received a crash ball under the posts, however she kept driving and pushed through 4 middle defenders in an amazingly powerful run to score a strong try near the sticks. Dibb again converted from almost in front.

A few minutes later, Dibb kicked over the top found the unmarked Chapman, who leapt to take the ball but lost her footing after she landed, stumbled and fell just shy of the line, denying her a third try.

The Maori had a few brilliant defensive moments to close out the game, denying the Indigenous side of any further points.