Roache bags three as Kiwi Ferns down Tonga

A hat-trick from centre Abigail Roache led the Kiwi Ferns to a 28-10 victory over a Tonga side who played the final half hour a player down following a send off. 

Interchange forward Ilaisaane Taufa was marched by referee Wyatt Raymond following a hip-drop style tackle, which saw Roosters and Kiwi Ferns forward Amelia Pasikala taken from the field at Eden Park with a suspected broken leg. 

While New Zealand were up 16-6 at the time and looking in control, the incident ended Tonga's faint hopes of getting up for an upset victory, after they had trailed just 10-6 at half-time. 

From there the Kiwi Ferns ran away with it, running in another three tries to claim a comfortable win, although Tonga will take heart from a drastically improved performance compared to past showings.

After Roache dotted down twice in the opening 11 minutes, it was looking like being a cake walk for the home side, before a spate of errors and penalties allowed Tonga back into the game. 

It was one of those errors on 26 minutes – with Shanice Parker clean missing a loose ball when she attempted to kick it clear of the in-goal area – that gifted Tiana Penitani a try, which after Cassey Tohi-Hiku's conversion reduced the gap to four at the break. 

But New Zealand made a commanding start to the second period, with Pasikala scoring a try just after the restart of play, before her injury minutes later saw proceedings stopped for several minutes. 

Another for Roache, followed by Annessa Biddle's second try in as many games, and a Mele Hufanga try out wide stretched the gap to 18, with only Penitani's try in the middle of it halting the Kiwi Ferns' momentum. 

If not for poor goalkicking – with Raecene McGregor converting just two of her side's six tries – the final scoreline would have looked even better for Ricky Henry's side.