Kiwis down Samoa in final to give Foran fairytale farewell as Jillaroos crush New Zealand

New Zealand legend Kieran Foran has recovered from a heart-sinking moment to end his playing career on a triumphant note as the Kiwis outlasted Samoa 36-14 to win the Pacific Championships final at CommBank Stadium on Sunday.

Foran, the 35-year-old playmaker, announced recently he was hanging up the boots after 17 seasons and 318 games in the NRL, and has accepted a position with Manly as an assistant coach.

After Jahrome Hughes was ruled out of the tournament with injury, Foran jumped at the chance of a swansong with the Kiwis.

Appearing in his 34th Test, his hopes of a fairytale farewell appeared on thin ice midway through the first half when he threw a pass that gifted Samoa an intercept try and left the Kiwis trailing 12-0.

But New Zealand held their nerve to power home in the second half to claim the title.

“What a way for him to finish off an outstanding career,” Kiwis coach Stacey Jones said, adding that Foran was a “special person”.

“He means so much to everyone in this group. He’s part of our leadership group and he just bleeds black. He’s just a wonderful person to have around the group. He takes a lot of pressure off this guy [skipper James Fisher-Harris] as far as leadership goes.”

The loss was disappointing and frustrating for Samoa, who are yet to post a victory against New Zealand or Australia in 12 attempts.

“You either put pressure on the opposition or you put pressure on yourself, and we put pressure on ourselves today … you’re just not going to compete in Test matches if you’re allowing 30 points to be scored in a half of a game,” Samoa coach Ben Gardner said.

“So we need to be more resilient, we need to tackle better and we need to be able to stop the offload.”

Samoa led 14-6 at half-time and could have been even further in front but for a controversial video-refereeing decision seconds before the interval.

Centre Deine Mariner appeared to have scored in the corner, but after the Kiwis protested and the Brisbane grand final hero was ruled not to have grounded the ball over the line. Asked for his opinion, Gardner was diplomatic: “I’ll probably leave that one up to you guys to decide on.”

The Kiwis did well to stay in the contest after Samoa, inspired by an army of vocal fans, grabbed the initiative early on.

The Samoans appeared certain to open the scoring in the eighth minute, only for Jarome Luai to throw a wayward pass to an unmarked Brian To’o.

There was no such mistake three minutes later, when Luai linked with To’o and the Penrith dynamo dived over in the corner. Blaize Talagi earned a massive cheer from the 28,084-strong crowd when he converted from the sideline.

New Zealand were foiled on multiple occasions before Samoa increased their lead in the 29th minute.

Eventually, it was the Kiwis who cracked when Foran, to his horror, threw a cut-out pass that Simi Sasagi intercepted and the back-rower raced 80 metres to score.

A Jazz Tevaga knock-on in the 30th minute was the break the Kiwis needed. Within seconds, New Zealand prop Naufahu Whyte had powered over to score.

Two minutes into the second half, Samoa claimed a try for Chanel Harris-Tavita after a fumbled high kick, but again the video ref ruled against them. The Kiwis kept their cool and hit back in the 49th minute when back-rower Isaiah Papali’i finished off a sweeping move.

Jamayne Isaako converted to make it a two-point advantage. A Luai high tackle three minutes later was penalised, allowing Isaako to equalise from 25m out.

The momentum swing continued in the 57th minute when Clark crashed over next to the posts.

When McLean scored his eighth try in four Tests, after a one-armed pass from Dylan Brown in the 67th minute, Samoa trailed 24-14.

They regained possession from the kick-off, but despite several set restarts, were unable to breach New Zealand’s goal-line defence.

A second Papali’i try in the 76th minute turned what had been an enthralling contest into a blowout, then Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad added further salt to Samoan wounds.

Jillaroos still in a league of their own

Australia’s Jillaroos remain in a league of their own after thrashing New Zealand 40-8 to retain the Pacific Championships title at CommBank Stadium on Sunday.

It was the Jillaroos’ 23rd win in their past 24 Test matches.

Their most recent loss was against New Zealand in the corresponding game two years earlier, and the gap between the world’s best team and the rest would appear to be growing, judging by their dominant performance on Sunday.

Jillaroos skipper Ali Brigginshaw said the title triumph was built on rock-solid defence, but she was “in awe” of the attacking flair her teammates displayed.

“Sometimes it’s just pretty to watch,” she said. “I’m really proud of how the girls played.”

Australia coach Jess Skinner added: “We’ll take this win and celebrate it and build on it next year. We’ve got a World Cup to look forward to.”

For the Kiwi Ferns, it’s a case of back to the drawing board.

“It’s tough,” captain Raecene McGregor said. “We’ve had a really good month and that’s what we’ve been building towards.

“It hurts ... but I don’t think it takes away from what we’ve achieved over the month.”

The Kiwi Ferns entered the decider full of belief after a hard-fought 10-4 loss against the Jillaroos a week earlier, but they were unable to reproduce the same level of intensity.

The signs were ominous for New Zealand from the third minute, when Jillaroos lock Olivia Kenrick scored a soft try between the posts from 10 metres out.

Ten minutes later, Australian halfback Jesse Southwell produced a pinpoint cross-field kick and winger Julia Robinson caught cleanly to score.

Trailing 12-0, the Kiwi Ferns suffered a crushing setback in the 25th minute when substitute Ashleigh Quinlan was sin-binned for a professional foul.

Within seconds, Australia’s Keilee Joseph strolled through a yawning gap to score.

Seven minutes later, a runaway try from Jessica Sergis left New Zealand pondering a 24-0 deficit at the half-time interval.

The Kiwi Ferns gave themselves a brief glimmer of hope with a Shanice Parker try five minutes into the second half, but it didn’t last long.

Nine minutes later, dynamic fullback Tamika Upton sliced through the defensive line in trademark fashion to post her seventh try in six Test appearances.

Kiwi Ferns winger Tysha Ikenasio earned a cheer from Kiwi supporters in the 51st minute when she produced a classy finish to score in the corner.

New Zealand lost another player to the sin bin in the 60th minute when forward Ivana Lauitiiti was marched for a hip-drop tackle on Jillaroos hooker Olivia Higgins.

Aussie prop Ellie Johnston crashed over to score soon after the opposition were reduced to 12.

Australia iced the win when Robinson dived over in the corner for her second try of the game.

Southwell’s conversion attempt bounced off the crossbar, denying her a perfect record of seven goals from seven attempts.