Photo: DFAT/Sarah Hodges
One game into the 2024 rugby league Pacific Championship and the Kangaroos are on the verge of confirming their Cup finals berth.
They will need to beat the Kiwis in New Zealand this Sunday to confirm their place.
The competition’s Cup and Bowls formats feature three teams each.
New Zealand will play their first game of the championship this weekend when the men and women meet Australia in Christchurch.
It’s a similar story for the Jillaroos with both Aussies sides chasing revenge over their Kiwi counterparts who beat them the last time they met.
In the opening round of the championship, the Kangaroos defeated Tonga 18-0 in Brisbane on Friday while earlier, the Jillaroos romped to a record 84-0 defeat of the PNG Orchids.
On Saturday in Suva, the PNG Kumuls overpowered Fiji 22-10 during their Bowl clash while in the women’s competition, Fetu Samoa downed Tonga 30-16 in Suva.
Mal Meninga is toying with making few, if any changes, to the team ahead of their Christchurch showdown with the Kiwis.
“We’ll make some decisions over the next few days, but when we talk about the team and it’s such a new team, and being together for the very first time, it would probably give us some serious consideration around playing again and have better continuity in our footy team,” Meninga told the NRL’s website, nrl.news.com.au.
If Australia win this weekend, New Zealand, who defeated the Kangaroos 30-0 in last year’s Pacific Cup decider, and Tonga have to fight it out in Auckland on November 2 for the other finals berth.
The Jillaroos will be looking to avenge their first defeat since 2016, by the Kiwi Ferns in Melbourne in 2023, when they meet in Christchurch on Sunday.
With their win, the Kumuls are eyeing a place in the promotion-relegation play-off against the third-placed Pacific Cup team in Sydney on November 10.
The Bati hopes of a Bowl title is already looking shaky; they must beat the Cook Islands in Suva this Saturday night and hope the Cook Islands can upset the Kumuls the following weekend with for-and-against to decide the Bowl.
Australia will not play in the third week of round play.
