The Match
New Zealand beat Australia 38-12 in the opening match of the Pacific Four Series at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle on Saturday 10 May 2025, extending the Black Ferns’ record to 28 wins from 28 Tests against the Wallaroos.
New Zealand scored six tries, through Ayesha Leti-I’iga with two, debutant fullback Braxton Sorensen-McGee with two, and Chryss Viliko and Sylvia Brunt with one each. The Wallaroos replied through Eva Karpani in the 46th minute and Ashley Marsters in the 58th. Australia are ranked sixth and had won four straight coming into the match, including a 43-7 win over Fijiana in Suva a week earlier.
New Zealand are the reigning World Cup champions and have won six of the past seven World Cups. Australia’s previous meeting with the Black Ferns was a 62-0 loss in Brisbane in 2024.
Maya Stewart and Bienne Terita were ruled out of the match for Australia before kick-off, the Guardian reported.
How It Unfolded
Leti-I’iga scored in the 13th and 25th minutes and Sorensen-McGee scored on debut in the 39th. The Black Ferns’ official report has New Zealand leading 19-0 at half-time, with the score moving to 26-0 after Viliko crashed over two minutes after the break. Some AAP-based reports said the Wallaroos trailed 26-0 at the break.
Australia hit back through Karpani from a lineout in the 46th minute and Marsters from a lineout drive in the 58th, pulling the score to 26-12. Brunt scored in the 67th minute and Sorensen-McGee sealed the result in the 75th.
There were two officiating flashpoints. Sorensen-McGee’s first try was awarded although replays suggested a knock-on in the build-up, and the Wallaroos were denied when Georgina Friedrichs touched down at full stretch from a Tia Hinds kick. Both calls went New Zealand’s way in a match the Black Ferns led from the 13th minute.
What the Wallaroos Said
Marsters said the second half had to become the standard, telling reporters: “We have to start the game as we’re finishing.”
Palu said the intent the side showed after the break had to be present from the opening whistle.
Captain Siokapesi Palu said: “Had we come out in the first half with the intent we showed in the second, we probably would’ve got a very different result. It’s all about intent and fire, body language and energy. We’ll bring all that next week.”
Black Ferns co-captain Kennedy Tukuafu said: “Australia, it runs so deep, it’s always a battle of the fittest. It’s awesome, we’ve had a really good battle.”
Coach Jo Yapp had promoted sevens stars Charlotte Caslick and Tia Hinds to the run-on side, and Hinds was singled out in match reports for her kicking and control.
What Next
Australia face the United States in Canberra next Saturday, before closing the Pacific Four against Canada in Brisbane on 23 May. New Zealand meet Canada in Christchurch. Both sides build towards the World Cup in England in August, a campaign the Guardian reported has the Wallaroos dreaming of a semi-final.
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Sources: The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/may/10/australia-wallaroos-new-zealand-black-ferns-rugby-union-test-match-report; ABC News, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-10/wallaroos-lose-38-12-to-black-ferns-pacific-four-series/105278090; New Zealand Rugby (allblacks.com), https://www.allblacks.com/news/black-ferns/wallaroos-resist-but-black-ferns-firepower-proves-too-much-in-newcastle
Photo: NAPARAZZI, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Illustrative: McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle, New South Wales, photographed in July 2017. The photograph is not from the match described in the article.
