Town Whites take first step towards Conan Cup glory

The Town Whites have never lifted the prestigious Conan Cup Women’s Rugby League Series trophy but moved a step closer to glory by defeating the Country Blacks in Saturday’s opener.

The annual series forms part of the inaugural Cook Islands Rugby Union Interstate Origin Series and will be held over three weekends.

The first match of the series was held at Nukupre Park in Ngatangia.

In a fierce competition, the Town Whites took the lead and maintained the lead throughout the game, eventually defeating the Country Blacks 26-14.

The Country Blacks showed plenty of moments but failed to capitalise on the chances they created.

Town Whites’ Kiana Sword-Tua said they were yet to win the Conan Cup but it was encouraging to get their first match win.

The Town Whites team is comprised primarily of girls who competed in this year’s season.

“We have some girls on the team who are new to the sport, which is very exciting,” Sword-Tua said.

“In the first of three games last Saturday we wanted to finalise our set-up and get our foundations in place as it has been a challenge getting numbers to training ahead of the first Conan Cup game with the 2024 league finals about four weeks away.

“Saturday’s match was very intense and the country girls really gave us a good performance, they have quite a few young players in their team who are all part of the Maine Tuporo development program, so we are very excited to see the progress they have made since the beginning of the year.”
Despite being favourites after last week’s win, Sword-Tua said they remain wary of the Country team winning in their second match this weekend.

“Going into our second game on Saturday, we had several key areas to focus on in practice this week, mainly our ball skills and defensive play-calling,” the Lady Panthers player said.

“Saturday should be another exciting, competitive game and we are looking forward to it.”

Meanwhile, in the men’s match last Saturday, after 80 minutes of fierce battle, the Town Blues narrowly defeated the Country Maroons in overtime with a score of 16 to 20.

Country Maroons coach Dion Nepia earlier told the Cook Islands News: “For our players, this game was about building squad and confidence as it has been over a month since our last game. I am proud of the players’ defence, especially against a strong Town team.”

Town Blues co-coach Clive Nicholas said: “Our forwards, Panthers trio Eric, Ozzy and Tua, and Eels captain Josh Motu, played extremely well and worked tirelessly to give us the upper hand, but our backline did not perform to the level that it should have. These are just minor issues that will be easily fixed in the second game.”