2025 Pacific Championships: Pacific Cup Finals Recap

Check out what happened in the final round of the Pacific Championships competition.

Review

Embed from Getty Images

The New Zealand Kiwis (men) and Australian Jillaroos (women) won their respective Pacific Cup Finals at CommBank Stadium.

The men’s Cup Final lived up to the hype and emotion, with Toa Samoa leading 14-6 at half-time (including an 80 metre intercept try to Simi Sasagi). But Samoa could had led by more after Deine Mariner’s try was overturned as there wasn’t enough evidence that he grounded the ball. The Kiwis’ class came through after half-time, starving Samoa of possession and scoring five second half tries (with a double to Isaiah Papali’i). The Kiwis sent the retiring Kieran Foran out a winner after over a decade of international footy. It’s New Zealand’s second Pacific Championships title after beating Australia in 2023.

The Jillaroos won their second straight Pacific Cup title. They led 24-0 at half-time, with Julia Robinson scoring two of Australia’s seven tries. Shanice Parker and Tysha Ikenasio scored for the New Zealand Kiwi Ferns in the second half, but Ellie Johnston and Robinson (her second try) ensured a comfortable Jillaroos win. Australia backed up their 2024 Pacific Cup Final win and are undefeated in six Pacific Championship matches so far.

The Cook Islands Aitu qualified for the 2026 Rugby League World Cup with a 58-6 win over South Africa.

It was a wonderful tournament: there was passionate support across Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea; a simplified format with no promotion/relegation and every game a women’s/men’s double header; and some outstanding pre-game war cries. New Zealand regained the men’s Pacific Cup by winning all three games (their opening win over Samoa was arguably the best game of the tournament), while the Jillaroos dominated the women’s Pacific Cup (scoring 110 points to 12 in three games). Papua New Guinea’s men’s Pacific Bowl title was an important stepping stone toward the PNG Chiefs’ entry into the NRL: they should have a strong base of Kumuls players to work with. The Cook Islands Aitu used their Pacific Bowl experience to qualify for the Rugby League World Cup, while the Cook Islands Moana dominated the women’s Pacific Bowl.

Embed from Getty Images

Player Stats Table

Club	Position	Jersey #	Player Name	Tries	Conversions	1-Pt FG	2-Pt FG	Points
New Zealand Kiwis	Fullback	1	Keano Kini	0	0	0	0	0
	Winger	2	Jamayne Isaako	0	6	0	0	12
	Centre	3	Matthew Timoko	0	0	0	0	0
	Centre	4	Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad	1	0	0	0	4
	Winger	5	Casey McLean	1	0	0	0	4
	Five-Eighth	6	Dylan Brown	0	0	0	0	0
	Halfback	7	Kieran Foran	0	0	0	0	0
	Prop	8	James Fisher-Harris	0	0	0	0	0
	Hooker	9	Phoenix Crossland	0	0	0	0	0
	Prop	10	Moses Leota	0	0	0	0	0
	2nd Row	11	Briton Nikora	0	0	0	0	0
	2nd Row	12	Isaiah Papali’i	2	0	0	0	8
	Lock	13	Joseph Tapine	0	0	0	0	0
	Int.	14	Te Maire Martin	0	0	0	0	0
	Int.	15	Naufahu Whyte	1	0	0	0	4
	Int.	16	Erin Clark	1	0	0	0	4
	Int.	17	Xavier Willison	0	0	0	0	0
	Replacement	18	Scott Sorensen	0	0	0	0	0
TOTAL – Kiwis				6	4	0	2	36 pts
Toa Samoa	Fullback	1	Roger Tuivasa-Sheck	0	0	0	0	0
	Winger	2	Brian To’o	1	0	0	0	4
	Centre	3	Izack Tago	0	0	0	0	0
	Centre	4	Deine Mariner	0	0	0	0	0
	Winger	5	Murray Taulagi	0	0	0	0	0
	Five-Eighth	6	Blaize Talagi	0	2	0	1	7
	Halfback	7	Jarome Luai	0	0	0	0	0
	Prop	8	Francis Molo	0	0	0	0	0
	Hooker	9	Jazz Tevaga	0	0	0	0	0
	Prop	10	Payne Haas	0	0	0	0	0
	2nd Row	11	Jaydn Su’A	0	0	0	0	0
	2nd Row	12	Simi Sasagi	1	0	0	0	4
	Lock	13	Junior Paulo	0	0	0	0	0
	Int.	14	Chanel Harris-Tavita	0	0	0	0	0
	Hooker	15	Benaiah Ioelu	0	0	0	0	0
	Int.	16	Terrell May	0	0	0	0	0
	Int.	17	Josh Papalii	0	0	0	0	0
	Replacement	18	Ata Mariota	0	0	0	0	0
TOTAL – Samoa				2	2	0	1	14 pts

---

10-Minute Try Breakdown – By Team

Time Period	New Zealand Tries	NZ Scorers	Samoa Tries	Samoa Scorers
0–10	0		1	Brian To’o (10′)
11–20	0		0
21–30	0		1	Simi Sasagi (27′)
31–40	1	Naufahu Whyte (32′)	0
41–50	1	Isaiah Papali’i (48′)	0
51–60	1	Erin Clark (55′)	0
61–70	1	Casey McLean (66′)	0
71–80	2	Isaiah Papali’i (75′), Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad (77′)	0

---

Score Timeline

Minute	Team	Player	Event Type	NZ Score	SAM Score	Biggest Lead
0	–	–	Kick-off	0	0	Scores level
10	Samoa	Brian To’o	Try	0	4	Samoa by 4
11	Samoa	Blaize Talagi	Conversion	0	6	Samoa by 6
27	Samoa	Simi Sasagi	Try	0	10	Samoa by 10
29	Samoa	Blaize Talagi	Conversion	0	12	Samoa by 12
32	New Zealand	Naufahu Whyte	Try	4	12	Samoa by 8
33	New Zealand	Jamayne Isaako	Conversion	6	12	Samoa by 6
39	Samoa	Blaize Talagi	Penalty Goal	6	14	Samoa by 8
40	–	–	Half-Time	New Zealand 6	Samoa 14	Samoa by 8
48	New Zealand	Isaiah Papali’i	Try	10	14	Samoa by 4
49	New Zealand	Jamayne Isaako	Conversion	12	14	Samoa by 2
52	New Zealand	Jamayne Isaako	Penalty Goal	14	14	Scores level
55	New Zealand	Erin Clark	Try	18	14	New Zealand by 4
57	New Zealand	Jamayne Isaako	Conversion	20	14	New Zealand by 6
66	New Zealand	Casey McLean	Try	24	14	New Zealand by 10
74	New Zealand	Jamayne Isaako	Penalty Goal	26	14	New Zealand by 12
75	New Zealand	Isaiah Papali’i	Try	30	14	New Zealand by 16
77	New Zealand	Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad	Try	34	14	New Zealand by 20
78	New Zealand	Jamayne Isaako	Conversion	36	14	New Zealand by 22 (Biggest Lead)
80	–	–	Full-Time	New Zealand 36	Samoa 14	22 (Final)

---

Match Summary

Summary Item	Detail
First Try Scorer	Brian To’o (Toa Samoa)
Last Try Scorer	Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad (New Zealand)
Half-Time Score (40 min)	New Zealand 6 – Samoa 14
Full-Time Score (80 min)	New Zealand 36 – Samoa 14
Biggest Lead	New Zealand by 22 pts
Time Leading (approx.)	Samoa 39 min / New Zealand 41 min / Even 0 min
Lead Changes	2
Venue	CommBank Stadium, Sydney
Conditions	Ground: Good