Town Whites beat Country Blacks to win Conan Cup

After two failed attempts, the Town Whites finally managed to capture the Conan Cup Women’s title in round two of the Cook Islands Rugby Union Interstate Origin Series on Saturday.

The town white team defeated the country black team 26 to 14 in the first round, so they were in a strong position for the second round.

The second round was held at Aretre Park in Awatiu. After a fierce battle, the white team narrowly defeated the black team 24 to 22.

The win was enough to give the Town Whites their first ever Conan Cup title.

Kiana Sword-Tua of the Town Whites said they were very excited to finally win the Conan Cup in their third year, “We still have one more series to go and hopefully we can show our quality in Saturday’s game.”

“Going into this week’s game, our focus in practice and on game day was to finalize our setups, get our defensive lineup ready and utilize our time with the ball in our hands,” Sword-Tua said.

“We do believe the national team will be good again this week and we have to be ready for that and we definitely need to step it up on Saturday and be ready for a great league game.”

Speaking about the team’s performance in the second leg of the series, Sword-Tua said the team was very excited for the second match “because we knew the national team would be stronger than the previous week and they really proved that”.

“It was probably too close for us to accept, but I have to say we were lucky to get the win.

“The national team’s attack was very different from the first game and it definitely caught us off guard, thanks to their senior players who worked hard and led the team.”

Despite the loss, Country Blacks’ Stephanie Noroa was proud of her team.

“Like I said last week, I’m proud of my team and I’ll say it again, I’m proud of my team and even though everybody else wants us to win, I think winning is always a bonus,” Noroa said.

“My team went out there with our own little goals, one of which was to show everyone that our young girls have a future in the sport. We started the tournament with our youngest team ever and in the second game we were still our youngest team ever, our young girls showed the island their true potential on Saturday and nothing would make me and my senior teammates happier than to see them shine in Women’s Rugby League.”

The Country team features young players Anillia Heather-Marsters, Terai Heather, Heinata Heather, Elle Oti and Feliza Nicholas from the Lady Bears, and Edon “Lily” Teraitua and CJ Rimamotu from the Tupapa Panthers. The team also features young players Aikitu Mose, Samantha Mose, Alexis Kareroa and Ngatokorima Elisa, who are also making their first appearance in the Conan Cup series.

“The second game was great, we gave Townside Sisters a great game and I wouldn’t say anything went wrong with my team, we fought back and showed everyone the potential of our young girls and the potential of women’s rugby on our small island,” Noroa said.

“Congratulations to our sisters, the Townside Titans, on their victory.”

Noroa said they are looking forward to playing their best in the third and final game of the series.

“I don’t expect too much from the team going into the third game, I just want our sisters to do well once again and show the potential our young people have in this sport.”

The Conan Cup Women’s Rugby League Series was launched in 2022 in memory of the late Colin (Conan) Ngari Munokoa-Tini, who was passionate about the league.

Munokoa-Tini, who died in 2010 at the age of 45, was remembered as a “big man with a big heart”. He was the eldest son of former Nikau MP Ngamau Munokoa and her husband Ngari.

He was president of the Arorangi Bears Rugby League Club, a staunch supporter of the Awatiu Eels Rugby League Club and was active in the Referees Association and youth development.