The Australian Schoolboys fought their way back to avoid defeat against the PNG Junior Kumuls, with the two sides playing out a 22-22 draw in a seesawing match.
Australia were on the board in the opening moments at Santos Football Stadium after Sam Stephenson collected an awkward bounce from a kick and went down the left sideline, passing back inside to a trailing Jake Attard, with the fullback running in to score.
The Junior Kumuls should have hit straight back after they capitalised on an Australian error and made it all the way to the opposition line, but the offload from Phillip Coates out to his winger was dropped over the line.
However, that didn't matter as the physical defence from the Junior Kumuls forced Australia into errors and when they earnt a penalty, the home side made it count, with second rower Sedrick Kuli scoring a powerful opening try. Gairo Voro added the extras to draw the scores level at quarter time.
Sedrick Kuli answers back for the Junior Kumuls
In the second quarter, the physicality of the Junior Kumuls was troubling Australia, forcing a line drop out and then a turn-over back-to-back; but they were not able to use that to their advantage early, with errors letting Australia off the hook.
The next try for the Kumuls was through pure strength, with second rower Jared Horne somehow able to poke his arm through and get the ball down next to the corner post before the four Australian defenders wrestled him out of bounds. Voro's conversion attempt was waved away, with the Junior Kumuls holding onto a 10-6 lead into the halftime break.
Australia were denied early in the second half after some strong PNG defence on the line, but the Kumuls had no such trouble scoring again, going further in front when a high bomb proved too hard to handle at the back for Australia. Zac Kumbamong picked up the scraps and passed to hooker Fabian Kari who was backing up, stepping away from the chasing defenders to score. This time, captain Voro was able to convert the try from in front, pushing his side out to a 16-6 lead.
The Junior Kumuls went back-to-back after they got a scrum just out from their line, putting in a sweeping play out to their left for winger Alton Naiyep to go over just inside the sideline. Goro's touchline conversion was a success, seeing his side move closer to upset with a 22-6 scoreline after the third quarter.
The final quarter of play, Australia fought back with a vengeance, with Stephenson getting a try of his own after setting one up in the first quarter to help narrow the scores, with the conversion reducing the deficit to 22-12.
Sam Stephenson gets one back for the Australian Schoolboys
They then went back-to-back after a the Junior Kumuls fumbled a grubber kick in their in-goal, with a chasing Lincoln Fletcher touching down on the ball. Again, the conversion went over and Australia trailed 22-18 with just over seven minutes left in the match.
Their momentum was halted with a call of forward pass, saving the Junior Kumuls and the PNG side then pressed to extend their lead and thought they were over in the left corner, only for another forward pass call denying a try.
In a thrilling finish to the match, the Australian Schoolboys went all out in their attack and it saw them rewarded. After being denied only a few plays earlier when Stephenson was held up after breaking through on the left, Mitch Woods redirected the play out to the right and Nikora Williams strolled over to draw the scores level.
Stepping up to convert his own try to try and steal the win, the kick from Williams was waved away with the two sides sharing the honours.
International Tour Match | Junior Kumuls v Australian Schoolboys
Squad lists
Australian Schoolboys
1. Jack Attard, 2. Luke Tuialii, 3. Nikora Williams, 4. Sam Stephenson, 5. Mason Barber, 6. Mitchell Woods, 7. Toby Rodwell, 8. Alex Challenor, 9. Lachlan Coinakis, 10. Cody Hopwood, 11. Jacob Halangahu, 12. Zac Garton, 13. Thomas Dellow, 14. Jared Haywood, 15. Simione Laiafi, 16. Ryda Talagi, 17. Tyson Sangalang, 18. Lincoln Fletcher Coach: Tim White
PNG Prime Minister's XIII Junior Kumuls
Alton Naiyep, Bradley Orosambo, Cedrick Kuli, Emmanuel Balio, Emmanuel Tembon, Errol Gialom, Fabian Kari, Finley Muno, Gairo Voro (captain), Gregan Format, Hercules Kondo, Ishmael Vaieke, Jared Horne, Joseph Kora, Otto Thomas, Phillip Coates, Smith Pamundi, Vane Manuma, Zac Kumbamong Coach: Joey Grima
Match Snapshot
- The Junior Kumuls held a 10-6 lead at halftime.
- Junior Kumuls second rower Jared Horne is the younger brother of senior Kumuls player Liam Horne who is also playing for the PNG Prime Minister's XIII side.
- Junior Kumuls centre Phillip Coates had an impressive game and is the younger brother for Melbourne Storm star Xavier Coates, who is playing for the Australian Kangaroos and has previously player for the Kumuls.
- Australian centre Sam Stephenson played for the Junior Kumuls last year and returned to Port Moresby for this year's match, this time playing for Australian Schoolboys.
Play of the Game
Jared Horne puts the Junior Kumuls in the lead before the break
What they said
Australian Schoolboys
"We really struggled with the conditions up here, the wind, the heat and probably the moisture and the humidity, so we struggled to hold the ball; tackle one drops, but courageous defence was forcing those drops, so credit to Papua New Guinea. I said to the coach Joey, I saw improvement from last year to this year, so I think it's going to be a hard, a hard mission every year for the Australian teams to keep coming here." - Australian Schoolboys coach Tim White
PNG Junior Kumuls
“I'm extremely proud of that to play a team like Australia, most of the those boys are contracted with NRL clubs. Whilst it's disappointing, we didn't get the win, I feel that from last year to this year, we're making some great progress. - PNG Junior Kumuls coach Joey Grima
