Watch every second of the 2026 Wallaroos season live and on demand via Stan Sport.<\/a><\/p>\nHowever, the Kiwis made it 30 straight over the Wallaroos and claimed the first Test between the two nations on ANZAC Day.<\/p>\n
“Disappointed, but we came with a game plan, and we did that, we’ve just got to give credit to New Zealand, and they’re a world-class team for a reason,” captain Siokapesi Palu Sekona said post-game.<\/p>\n
The visitors were intent on keeping their unbeaten record as Amy du Plessis sliced through for the opening try in the fourth minute.<\/p>\n
But the Wallaroos were in the fight, with Desiree Miller and Georgina Friedrichs nearly combining for an instant response, only for the pass to just be off the mark.<\/p>\n
Kaipo Olsen-Baker was denied a try in the 14th minute after a clear forward pass was picked up by the TMO. This provided the Wallaroos with confidence as they launched their attack through their rolling maul. <\/p>\n
The quick throw to the front with no lineout jumper caught the Kiwis napping, allowing captain Palu Sekona to split away down the blindside for their first points.<\/p>\n
Palu Sekona\u2019s try was instantly answered by the visitors as Ruahei Demant\u2019s grubber found flyer Ayesha Leti-l\u2019iga for her first try of the year.<\/p>\n
Samantha Wood kept the Wallaroos in the fight with a nice break close to the ruck, but tries either side of the break allowed the Black Ferns to build an unassailable lead.<\/p>\n
du Plessis and Leti-l\u2019iga combine for the winger\u2019s second and a 21-5 half-time lead, extended when replacement prop Veisinia Mahutariki-Fakalelu powered over 90 seconds into the second half as the rain pelted down in the Sunshine Coast.<\/p>\n
It was fitting that the Kiwis\u2019 win was sealed by Laura Bayfield as the game ticked over past the hour mark. <\/p>\n
Bayfield, a current serving member of the New Zealand army, dived over in the corner following Justine McGregor\u2019s earlier try.<\/p>\n
The Aussies kept fighting until the end, with Piper Simons\u2019 desperate scramble stopping a debut try to Tara Turner.<\/p>\n
In the end, the Black Ferns had too much firepower, securing the Pacific Four series title and the O\u2019Reilly Cup for another year.<\/p>\n
The two teams will face off again in August to conclude the two-Test series following their respective club seasons.<\/p>\n
“We’ve got positives to take away and that’s just something we have to build on…to play an historic\u00a0Test match on Anzac and to get the privilege to play a Test match and honour the country\u00a0that they fought for, like what a thrilling experience to have,” Palu Sekona added.<\/p>\n
Black Ferns 40 (du Plessis, Leti-l\u2019iga 2, Mahutariki-Fakalelu, McGregor, Bayfield tries; Holmes 5 cons) def Wallaroos 5 (Palu Sekona try)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Black Ferns have claimed the Pacific Four series with a 40-5 win over the Wallaroos on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":630525,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,49604,305067,760,85,19259],"class_list":["post-630524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-black-ferns","tag-oreilly-cup","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-wallaroos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630524","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=630524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/630525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=630524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=630524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=630524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}