{"id":226435,"date":"2025-10-20T02:13:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T02:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/226435\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T02:13:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T02:13:08","slug":"2025-pacific-championships-round-1-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/226435\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 Pacific Championships: Round 1 Recap"},"content":{"rendered":"

Check out what happened in round 1 of the Pacific Championships competition.<\/p>\n

Review<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n

New Zealand swept the opening round of the Pacific Championships, with the Kiwis and Kiwi Ferns winning their Pacific Cup games against Toa Samoa and Fetu Samoa at Go Media Stadium.<\/p>\n

With the scores tied 18-18 with eight minutes left, Deine Mariner<\/a> (who scored two tries for Brisbane in their grand final win) dropped a Blaize Talagi<\/a> pass that would have almost certainly been a Samoan try. New Zealand punished them on the next set when Dylan Brown<\/a> scored off a Kieran Foran<\/a> bomb. While there was doubts over the grounding, there wasn\u2019t enough evidence to overturn it. Samoa had a chance to tie the scores later, but Brian To\u2019o knocked on when he could have scored in the left corner. Casey McLean<\/a> scored the opening two tries as New Zealand led 12-0 after 23 minutes. Ata Mariota<\/a> \u2013 making his Samoan debut \u2013 suffered a Category 1 head knock and will miss next Sunday\u2019s game against the Tonga XIII.<\/p>\n

Shanice Parker, Ashleigh Quinlan, Alexis Tauaneai, and Mele Hufanga scored four tries in 18 minutes as the Kiwi Ferns erased a 20-0 half-time deficit. Hufanga (who also scored the match-winning try for Brisbane in the NRLW Grand Final) scored a 90-metre try to seal the Ferns\u2019 win. Shalom Sauaso, Sarina Masaga, Destiny Mino-Sinapati, and Tavarna Papalii set up Samoa\u2019s dominant first half. <\/p>\n

Fiji and the Cook Islands won their Pacific Bowl games in Port Moresby, with four tries to Jahream Bula<\/a> (Fiji) and a hat-trick to Paulina Morris-Ponga (Cook Islands).<\/p>\n

Bula took only 12 minutes to score his hat-trick \u2013 and his fourth in the 37th minute \u2013 as Fiji led 28-6 at half-time. Brandon Wakeham kicked six goals, going past 100 International points for Fiji. Emily Veivers scored all of PNG\u2019s points (in the opening eight minutes) for a 6-0 lead. Moana scored seven straight tries from there, including Morris-Ponga\u2019s hat-trick.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n

Results<\/p>\n

Fiji Bati 44 Cook Islands Aitu 24<\/p>\n

Player Stats Table<\/p>\n

Fiji Bati<\/p>\n

PositionPlayer NameTriesConversions1-Pt FG2-Pt FGPointsFullbackJahream Bula400016WingerSunia Turuva00000CentreMichael Jennings00000CentreSemi Valemei00000WingerJethro Rinakama00000Five-eighthKurt Donoghoe10004HalfbackBrandon Wakeham060012PropTui Kamikamica00000HookerPenioni Tagituimua00000PropMichael Waqa000002nd RowTaane Milne000002nd RowKitione Kautoga10004LockCaleb Navale10004InterchangeTerrell Kalo Kalo00000InterchangeSolomone Saukuru10004InterchangeKeresi Maya00000InterchangeKylan Mafoa00000ReplacementAkuila Qoro00000<\/p>\n

Cook Islands Aitu<\/p>\n

PositionPlayer NameTriesConversions1-Pt FG2-Pt FGPointsFive-eighthEsan Marsters00000WingerPaul Ulberg00000CentreKL Iro10004CentreReubenn Rennie10004WingerEsom Ioka04008FullbackCaelys-Paul Putoko00000HalfbackCassius Cowley00000PropMakahesi Makatoa00000HookerMason Teague00000PropTepai Moeroa000002nd RowBrendan Piakura000002nd RowReuben Porter00000LockPride Petterson-Robati10004InterchangeRua Ngatikaura00000InterchangeBrody Tamarua00000InterchangeRhys Dakin00000ReplacementDelahia Wigmore00000InterchangeJustin Makirere10004<\/p>\n

Score Timeline<\/p>\n

MinuteTeamPlayerEventFijiCook IslandsLead0\u2013\u2013Kick-off0005FijiJahream BulaTry40Fiji by 46FijiBrandon WakehamConversion (Wakeham)60Fiji by 68FijiJahream BulaTry100Fiji by 1010FijiBrandon WakehamConversion120Fiji by 1212FijiJahream BulaTry160Fiji by 1614FijiBrandon WakehamConversion180Fiji by 1820FijiCaleb NavaleTry220Fiji by 2221FijiBrandon WakehamConversion240Fiji by 2426Cook IsKL IroTry244Fiji by 2028Cook IsEsom IokaConversion246Fiji by 1837FijiJahream BulaTry286Fiji by 2240\u2013\u2013Half-Time286Fiji by 2254Cook IsJustin MakirereTry2810Fiji by 1855Cook IsEsom IokaConversion2812Fiji by 1660FijiKitione KautogaTry3212Fiji by 2062FijiBrandon WakehamConversion3412Fiji by 2263Cook IsReubenn RennieTry3416Fiji by 1864Cook IsEsom IokaConversion3418Fiji by 1666FijiKurt DonoghoeTry3818Fiji by 2067FijiBrandon WakehamConversion4018Fiji by 2276FijiSolomone SaukuruTry4418Fiji by 2679Cook IsPride Petterson-RobatiTry4422Fiji by 2279Cook IsEsom IokaConversion4424Fiji by 20<\/p>\n

New Zealand Kiwis 24 Toa Samoa 18<\/p>\n

Player Stats Table<\/p>\n

New Zealand Kiwis<\/p>\n

PlayerTriesConversionsPenalty GoalsPointsCharnze Nicoll-Klokstad0000Jamayne Isaako0318Matthew Timoko1004Casey McLean2008Ronaldo Mulitalo0000Dylan Brown1004Kieran Foran0000James Fisher-Harris0000Jeremy Marshall-King0000Moses Leota0000Briton Nikora0000Isaiah Papali\u2019i0000Joseph Tapine0000Phoenix Crossland0000Naufahu Whyte0000Erin Clark0000Nelson Asofa-Solomona0000Keano Kini0000<\/p>\n

PlayerTriesConversionsPenalty GoalsPointsRoger Tuivasa-Sheck0000Brian To\u2019o0000Izack Tago0000Deine Mariner1004Murray Taulagi1004Blaize Talagi0306Jarome Luai0000Josh Papalii0000Jazz Tevaga0000Payne Haas0000Jeremiah Nanai0000Jaydn Su\u2019A0000Junior Paulo0000Chanel Harris-Tavita0000Simi Sasagi1004Francis Molo0000Benaiah Ioelu0000Ata Mariota0000<\/p>\n

Score Timeline<\/p>\n

MinuteTeamPlayerEventNew ZealandToa SamoaLead9\u2019New ZealandCasey McLeanTry40NZ by 411\u2019New ZealandJamayne IsaakoConversion60NZ by 621\u2019New ZealandCasey McLeanTry100NZ by 1023\u2019New ZealandJamayne IsaakoConversion120NZ by 1226\u2019Toa SamoaDeine MarinerTry124NZ by 828\u2019Toa SamoaBlaize TalagiConversion126NZ by 632\u2019Toa SamoaSimi SasagiTry1210NZ by 234\u2019Toa SamoaBlaize TalagiConversion1212Level40\u2019New ZealandMatthew TimokoTry1612NZ by 463\u2019New ZealandJamayne IsaakoPenalty Goal1812NZ by 669\u2019Toa SamoaMurray TaulagiTry1816NZ by 271\u2019Toa SamoaBlaize TalagiConversion1818Level73\u2019New ZealandDylan BrownTry2218NZ by 474\u2019New ZealandJamayne IsaakoConversion2418NZ by 6FT\u2014\u2014Full Time2418NZ by 6<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Check out what happened in round 1 of the Pacific Championships competition. Review Embed from Getty Images New…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226436,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,130435,26045,40041,40043,760,85,130439],"class_list":["post-226435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cook-islands-aitu","tag-fiji-bati","tag-new-zealand-kiwis","tag-pacific-championships-2025","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-toa-samoa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}