The St.George Queensland Reds have fallen 29-10 to the Fijiana in their pre-season trial match at Ballymore Stadium.
In hot and humid conditions, the visitors opened up a 22-3 lead by the half-time break with a potent attacking display, before both sides scored one-try-a-piece in an evenly matched second stanza.
Kauna Lopa crossed for the Reds’ only try, while Fijian backrower Lavenia Tinai scored a double for the touring side in front of a strong crowd at the home of Queensland Rugby.
Head coach Moana Virtue said: “The result today wasn’t what we were after, but it was a good to establish a benchmark as to where we are as a squad.
“We have a few new faces in the team this year and we needed to test some combinations and give girls the chance to impress and the hit out today provided that opportunity.
“It’s really special to be able to host an international side like the Fijiana and they played a physical game which will put us in good stead as we prepare for Rugby WA next weekend.”
After dominating possession early, the Fijiana opened up a 10-nil lead with a pair of tries from Tinai within the first 17-minutes of play.
Queensland came within centimetres of their first five-pointer on the back of a sizzling 50-metre Alana Elisaia line break, but were denied by some resolute Fijian defence, as the visitors held onto their lead at the first quarter break.
The Fijians had their third try in the 22nd minute, Aloesi Nakodi streaking close to 80-metres to score on the back of a stunning through-the-legs pass from number-eight Sereema Leweniqilia.
The Reds recorded their first points at the 30-minute mark, Lavinia Gould slotting a 20-metre penalty to make the score 17-3.
The visitors then crossed for their third five-pointer on the stroke of half-time, Rusilia Nagasau scoring after a build-up of Fijiana possession inside the Queensland half as the visitors headed to the break with a 22-3 advantage.
Queensland camped inside the Fijiana 22-metre line for the opening stages of the second half, and the visitors continuous infringements in defence resulted in two yellow cards to Tainau and winger Priscilla Siyatathe, leaving Fijians left with just 13 women on the field.
Queensland made the most of the advantage and finally broke through the Fiji defence with a sequence of the backline passes for Lopa to score. Gould added the extras to bring Queensland within two converted tries of the lead at 22-10 with 30-minutes remaining.
Despite a mountain of Reds possession, the defiant Fijiana side continued to keep the Queensland attack at bay, before a runaway try to lock Akosita Ravoto put their lead out to 29-10 in the 75th minute to seal the game.
In true Rugby spirit, the team came together post-match and shared a meal prepared by the local Brisbane Fijian community, and the Queensland side made a donation of Rugby equipment to the Fijiana players to take back to their villages after the tour.
Queensland will kick off their Buildcorp Super W campaign next week when they take on Rugby WA in Perth on February 22 at 6:00PM AEST.
St.George Queensland Reds 10 (Tries: Lopa, Conversions: Gould, Penalties: Gould) defeated by Fijiana 29 (Tries: Tinai 2, Nakodi, Nagasau, Ravoto, Conversions: Davuru 2) at Ballymore Stadium on February 16, 2020.
