Cassowaries in Australia for Oceania Women’s Rugby Championship

THE Papua New Guinea Cassowaries are on the Gold Coast for the Oceania Women’s Rugby Championship which is the region’s pinnacle premier women’s rugby competition.
It will be staged at Bond University beginning tomorrow (Fri, May 26) to Sunday June 4.
The Oceania Rugby event is backed by the Australian government, through PacificAus Sports which is being staged in the country for the first time.
Along with PNG, the tournament will feature national women’s teams from Fiji (Fijiana), Samoa (Manusina) and Tonga (Fuifuilupe). The 2023 competition is even more significant than previous years, as the teams are compete for a spot in the inaugural World Rugby WXV competition that starts later this year.
The competition provides the platform for Pacific players to be selected for the 2023 Oceania Women’s Combine later in August this year, where players aspire to earn a selection and a PacificAus Sports scholarship to play in Australia’s Super W.
The top two teams from the competition will qualify. The first-place team will qualify in WXV-Tier 2 and the second placed team for WXV-Tier 3. “It is exciting times for women’s rugby in Oceania and we have witnessed the sport grow from strength to strength in recent years. What was traditionally a male sport is now evolved and it is encouraging to see that our Pacific cultures are embracing women and girls in rugby,” Oceania Rugby president Richard Sapias said ahead of the tournament that kicks off tomorrow with PNG and Fiji playing in the first match.
The four teams will play three rounds each and points would be awarded to determine the top two finishers.
Defending champion Fijiana, is expected to put on a strong defense of their title.
However, runners-up in the 2022 Oceania Rugby Women’s Championship, Manusina, will be out to avenge their 24-31 loss to the Fijiana side in Auckland last year. The two sides are scheduled to meet again in the third round of this year’s competition.
Tonga, after nearly toppling Manusina in the opening round, and a boisterous first half effort to push Fijiana last year in their second-round thriller, could prove to be the Championship’s dark horse in this year’s edition. With the team assembling only days before last year’s Championship, more team preparation this year could have the Fuifuilupe surprise their more fancied Pacific neighbours and traditional rugby rivals.
PNG will be eagerly looking to take their efforts up a notch this year after a winless campaign in last year’s Championship. With qualification for the WXV at stake, PNG will be looking to regain their form of past in pushing their Pacific sisters to secure a spot in the WXV.
Fixtures: Rd 1 – Fri, May 26: 5.30pm PNG v Fiji, 7.30pm Samoa v Tonga; Rd 2 – Tues, May 30: 5.30pm Samoa v PNG, 7.30pm Fiji v Tonga; Rd 3 – Sun, June 4: 2pm PNG v Tonga, 4pm Fiji v Samoa.