Rugby League: Kiwi Ferns beats Samoa in international comeback

Autumn-Rain Stephens-Daly might have found her calling.

The five-eighth youth was the star for the Kiwi Ferns in a start-stop affair against Fetu Samoa, and the Ferns closed out a 28-8 win at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday.

Stephens-Daly, who showed great talent in sevens and bonding with the Bay of Plenty, made the most of speed and strength for the Ferns’ second two attempts, including a 50-meter run that included a massive defense against Samoan defender Masuisui. Pauaraisa.

On a team that featured 11 debuting players, Stephens-Daly and her halves partner Karli Hansen impressed on the attack. Hansen opened scoring early, scoring one of the strangest attempts you’ll see in any of the codes.

At the end of the team’s first set, Hansen launched a hopeful kick towards the posts, which then bounced off the outside of the right post, hitting above the crossbar level. The ball fell into the in-goal area and Hansen was the first to support it.

The teams then traded trials, with the Ferns scoring via Honey Hireme-Smiler and Samoa via Ricshay Lemanu, before Stephens-Daly’s impressive solo career widened the gap to 12 points at halftime.

While the Ferns were having the best of the game, the rainy conditions in Auckland made things difficult and both sides had handling problems.

He didn’t improve much in the second half in that regard, with both sides seeing promising attacks fizzle after a dropped ball.

The Ferns were able to score three times in the second period, through Stephens-Daly, Katelyn Vaha’akolo and Crystal Tamarua, pushing the score to a comfortable margin. And while Samoa crossed again through Leianne Tufuga, they were unable to maintain contact with New Zealand.

Both teams finished the game with just 65% complete passes, with the Ferns committing 14 errors to Samoa’s 13, while Samoa missed 37 tackles to the Ferns’ 16.

Speaking after the game, Kiwi Ferns lock Charlotte Scanlan said it was a good performance from a team that hadn’t yet spent a lot of time as a group, and was grateful to be in a position to play an international match this year.

“The culture within the team is really growing,” Scanlan said. “Putting a group of girls together in one team, you never really know what’s going to happen, but we really fit together.

“It is an honor to be the only country that can do it and we are very grateful to be from a country like New Zealand.”

Ferns Kiwi 28 (Autumn-Rain Stephens-Daly 2, Karli Hansen, Honey Hireme-Smiler, Katelyn Vaha’akolo, Crystal Tamarua tries; Hansen 2 cons)
Fetu Samoa 8 (Ricshay Lemanu, Leianne Tufuga tries)
HT: 16-4