Womens 2021 RLWC

Trans-Tasman rivals Australia and New Zealand will renew their rivalry one more time in the final of the Women’s #RLWC2021.

This follows their lopsided wins in Monday’s semifinals in York.

In the first semi, the Jillaroos absolutely dominated Papua New Guinea to the tune of 82-0 after leading 40-0 at halftime.

The Aussie women ran in 15 tries en route to their big shutout victory. They were led by Emma Tonegato and Isabelle Kelly, who each scored a hat-trick of tries. Lauren Brown added 18 points of her own by converting nine of the tries.

In the second match of the doubleheader, the Kiwi Ferns were a little too good for the host nation to win 20-6.

It was a reasonably close game from the opening kickoff with New Zealand only outscoring their English opponents by four tries to one. England’s sole score came in the first half as they trailed narrowly 8-6 at the main break.

The final will renew the Trans-Tasman rivalry between the Jillaroos and Kiwi Ferns with the New Zealanders hoping to exact some revenge for their closely played 10-8 loss to the Australians in their Group B game in the preliminary rounds.

Brian is a strong and effective communicator with more than 30 years’ experience in broadcast and electronic media. He has been writing for Rugby League Planet since 2012 and is frequently the first reporter to break news stories about the sport. He has been our North American correspondent reporting on news in the US, Canada and Jamaica covering everything from league standings to strategy analysis to breaking news on key trades to editorials and colourful features on athletes. He is now writing about rugby league on a broader scale to cover developments around the globe. An accomplished storyteller, Brian started his career in Australian radio, before moving to the United States. He is an experienced podcast host and producer and is also a successful TV commentator having done play-by-play and analysis for ESPN, FOX Sports and the Rugby League European Federation (RLEF) among others.