Palais thrashed by Fiji

THE Papua New Guinea Palais were thrashed 96-0 by hosts Fiji in the second round of the Oceania Women’s Rugby Championship at Churchill Park, Lautoka yesterday.
The game was a rematch of the 2016 Oceania final which saw Fiji win 37-0.
The Palais competed well in spots and played with an offensive mindset similar to their opening round loss to Samoa.
The home side displayed better skills and counter-attacked well while keeping most of the match in the PNG half.
Fiji led 53-0 at halftime.
In the first game of the day, Samoa thumped Tonga 68-7 to set the tone for the day’s action.
The Samoans played structured rugby and outclassed their opponents throughout the game.
Meanwhile, the Oceania Championship is likely to accommodate Australia and New Zealand come next year, says Oceania Rugby tourn­ment director Wayne Schuster. “Last time we had the Oceania Women’s Championship was in 2016 and that’s where PNG and Fiji played each other for the title and that was the first one,” he said.
“This time around we are de­lighted to have four teams partici­pating and we expect this tourna­ment to grow annually given the amount of energy in the growth of women’s rugby.”
Schuster said Oceania Rugby is committed to promoting and growing women’s rugby in the region. “This is a pathway which is to develop that interest in growth. Currently that is happening and we expect New Zealand A and Australia A to take part in this competition by next year. – FijiTimes