A hat-trick of tries from veteran captain Fiao'o Faamausili has guided the Black Ferns to 31-11 victory over the Australian Wallaroos in their women's rugby international in Sydney.
The reigning world champions have never been beaten by their trans-Tasman rivals and were in no mood to relinquish that dominance, despite the absence of several sevens stars.
As it happened: NZ Black Ferns vs Australian Wallaroos
Faamausili proved an inspirational leader, scoring one try on the first half and another two after the break in virtually identical circumstances, as her team used the attacking lineout to perfection.
New Zealand needed 12 minutes to open their account and eventually did so through some sparkle from Renee Wickliffe on the right wing, jinking her way through the Wallaroos defence and providing the final pass to Kendra Cocksedge for a try.
The Black Ferns managed two more in the first half, with Faamausili diving over from a close-range lineout and rolling maul, and then powerful prop Aldora Itunu stretching out to score right on half-time.
Australia's only reply was a penalty from prop Emily Robinson and by the break, they had already missed 21 tackles.
Robinson added another goal soon after the restart to narrow the margin, but Faamausili broke a second-half deadlock with another well-taken try from the a lineout-maul and added the finishing touches 10 minutes later with a similar effort.
Australia weren't finished though and they managed a consolation try from Alisha Hewitt that will give them some hope for the return match at Eden Park next Saturday.
"Australia have definitely picked their game up for sure," said Faamausili. "Their defence was on-point tonight and we didn't catch on quickly that they were zero-rucking.
"In patches, we were pretty good, but we need to progress better this coming week. We'll take the win, but we've still got heaps to work on."
Black Ferns 31 (Fiao'o Faamausili 3, Kendra Cocksedge, & Aldora Itunu tries; Cocksedge 3 conversions) Wallaroos 11 (Alisha Hewitt try, Emily Robinson 2 penalties)
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