{"id":342259,"date":"2023-10-28T10:25:28","date_gmt":"2023-10-28T10:25:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=342259"},"modified":"2023-10-28T11:01:00","modified_gmt":"2023-10-28T11:01:00","slug":"kiwis-star-mobbed-mid-interview-after-historic-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=342259","title":{"rendered":"Kiwis star mobbed mid-interview after historic win"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before Saturday, the Kiwi Ferns<\/a> hadn't knocked off the Jillaroos<\/a> since 2016.<\/p>\n

By full-time at AAMI Park, Melbourne, the side had flipped history by winning 12-6 against the international rugby league juggernauts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ufeffFullback Apii Nicholls finished player of the match after saving at least two tries and the pride from her teammates was clear when she was mobbed mid-interview with Channel Nine.<\/p>\n

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\ufeff"Oh my gosh, it's been a long time coming, been about 10 years since we last won," she said rounding up their seven-year victory.\n<\/p>\n

"I'm just really proud of the girls, they promised that we were all in today – wait, I've still got to do the interview," she laughed as her teammates jumped on her.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In the possession statistics, the Jillaroos finished just ahead with 51 per cent, unable to penetrate New Zealand's defence on various occasions.<\/p>\n

Nicholls put her side's win down to those efforts. \ufeff<\/p>\n

"I think just really staying connected \ufeffon defence [won us the game], I think our biggest focus was on defence and really trying to slow the ball down and I think we did that well," she said.<\/p>\n

While attempting to stay humble, the fullback couldn't help but admit it was the best game of her career. \ufeff<\/p>\n

"Yeah definitely," she said.<\/p>\n

\"Women\u2019s<\/p>\n

"It's really tough coming from the back of the World Cup, it was a bad loss. I'm just really proud of the girls. We have a lot of debutants here, they did really well."<\/p>\n

The Jillaroos came out of the blocks on fire, leading 6-0 after nine minutes thanks to a Jaime Chapman try.<\/p>\n

Tamika Upton was then denied moments later after she dropped the ball over the line during a Nicholls tackle.<\/p>\n

Rampaging Kiwis centre Mele Hufanga then made it even with a four-pointer right on half-time.<\/p>\n

\"Rampaging<\/p>\n

In the second half, Nicholls was involved again when she stopped Jillaroos debutant Jakiya Whitfeld over the line.<\/p>\n

With seven minutes remaining, Kiwis winger Leianne Tufuga stepped around Whitfeld on the wing after a brilliant cut-out pass to score the winner and send the New Zealand fans into raptures.<\/p>\n

\ufeffWatch the Jillaroos take on the Kiwi Ferns in the 2023 Women's Pacific Championships on Nine and<\/strong> 9Now<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

"Outstanding footy," Allana Ferguson<\/a> said on Nine's coverage.<\/p>\n

"The Kiwi Ferns were absolutely brilliant that entire game defensively. They put the Jillaroos under all sorts of pressure. The Jillaroos outplayed them for most of that first half, but they could not complete. They were completing at 37 per cent at half time."<\/p>\n

The Kangaroos may have some concerns too with Kezie Apps, Olivia Kernick and Jessica Sergis placed on report throughout the game. \ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before Saturday, the Kiwi Ferns hadn't knocked off the Jillaroos since 2016. By full-time at AAMI Park, Melbourne, the side had flipped history by winning […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":342261,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342259"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=342259"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":342265,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342259\/revisions\/342265"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/342261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=342259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=342259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=342259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}