NSW under 18s women kick off rep round with strong win
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NSW have drawn first blood at North Sydney Oval with the under 18s women's side notching up a 24-4 victory over Queensland in a curtain-raiser on Friday night.
Illawarra Steelers product Teagan Berry scored a double as the Blues piled on three entertaining tries in front of a healthy crowd building ahead of the main women's Origin game.
The Maroons shot out of the blocks with all the momentum but the Blues' defensive line held firm to deny an attacking raid early.
Defence soon turned to attack for NSW when Maroons fullback China Polata fell short of reaching out to the plant the ball down.
Queensland had the Blues on the ropes until Berry swung the momentum to swoop on a pass and race 95 metres to the line.
Queensland responded with some brutal hits led by Lyllian Mikaio and Jessikah Reeves in the middle while Polata continued to look dangerous with some sharp kick returns.
Blues fullback Tess Staines went close to splitting the Maroons' defensive line herself until Newcastle Tarsha Gale Cup back-rower Olivia Kernick finished off a Caitlan Johnston kick out wide to stumble over untouched.
Match: NSW U18s Women v QLD U18s Women
Round 1 -
home Team
NSW U18s Women
away Team
QLD U18s Women
Venue: North Sydney Oval, Sydney
Emma Manzelmann was causing chaos around the ruck for the Maroons but after a couple of costly errors from the Queensland No.9 Polata enabled NSW to take a 12-0 lead at half-time.
Errors were the Maroons' worst enemy after the break with NSW the first to score in the second half and just about wrap up the game.
Rhiannon Tungai got busy around the ruck but the night belonged to Berry, who almost pulled off a scintillating try when she broke down the left edge before chipping over Polata and failing to regather.
Tungai and Perry were thick in the action for the Blues a minute later when Maroons centre Rhiannon Revell-Blair lost the ball from the scrum feed.
Berry finished off her second of the night in the corner and a sideline conversion from Emily Curtain pushed the lead out to an 18-point advantage.
A rushed pass under pressure from the Blues enabled Courtney Tamati to cross for the Maroons with nine minutes remaining.
But a story of the night for the Maroons was their error count, which proved costly in greasy conditions at the venue.
NSW sealed the result with three minutes remaining as Johnston charged down the left edge to step past three defenders and cross next to the posts.
