Patricia Raikadroka came back to haunt her former Fiji teammates as Australia’s Prime Minister’s XIII women’s side avoided a boilover with a 22-14 win in Suva.
Behind on the scoreboard three times in the opening 60 minutes, the Australian side only took the lead for the first time in the final quarter of the match.
The hero for the PM’s XIII was Raikadroka, who played for Fiji as recently as June but opted to play for her country of birth in Friday’s exhibition match.
Regardless, it was a titanic effort by hosts Fiji who only played their first Test earlier this year.
“It just shows what it means to the people of Fiji, and for those ladies to be empowered and feel strong,” said PM’s XIII and Jillaroos coach Brad Donald.
“It’s a lot more than just the 80 minutes of rugby league that happened on the field today.”
Australian hooker Michaela Peck was also crucial in the win, with the PM’s XIII side featuring just five NRLW players given the short turnaround from last week’s grand final.
After Australia trailed 8-4 at halftime, Peck came up with a crucial one-on-one strip before Raikadroka crossed for her second try on the next set.
Then with the PM’s XIII down 14-8 later in the match, Peck dived over from dummy-half to level the scores with 22 minutes to play.
Raikadroka, who plays for Mounties in NSW, scored her third and most decisive try when the Aussies’ spread the ball right through six sets of hands to put her over in the 64th minute.
“She was fantastic, and it’s also (fantastic) for the Fijians,” Donald said.
“If a World Cup rolled around and she wasn’t up for selection for the Jillaroos, she would be a great addition to this (Fijian) team.”
The PM’s XIII sealed the win when Christian Pio hit a gap from close to the line to dance over and avoid a shock loss.