Fetu Samoa kicked off a new era under the coaching of Jamie Soward in style on Sunday, holding off a strong finish from Fiji Bulikula to record a 26-12 victory.
The match, which was played on an afternoon in which temperatures reached 30°C at the Santos National Football Stadium Port Moresby, ended a four-year wait between games for Fiji and was Samoa's first outing since 2020.
Despite having much less experience in their squad than Samoa - whose side included dual-code international Niall Williams-Guthrie, Maroons hooker Destiny Brill and former Kiwi Fern Annetta-Claudia...