The Country squad won 3-2 on penalties over the New Zealand President’s XI in the final of the tournament, held in Fiji from December 6 to 13.

The Kiwi side had been responsible for the Country squad’s only defeat of the competition, winning 1-0 earlier in the tournament.

Both Willott and Watterson produced successful penalty shots to help edge out their cross-Tasman rivals.

A year after playing the host country’s national and development sides, Willott and Watterson – with the new addition of Boyce – returned to the Pacific nation for the inaugural running of the cup.

It was memorable for Willott, in particular, after she finished with four goals to her name.

“We knew it would be a really tough game against New Zealand when we found out a couple of their players had been to the Commonwealth Games just gone. We were still quite confident we could win,” Willott said.

“They were really nice to play against as well. They’re a very friendly group. It was good, though, to get that win over them in the final with the whole Australia-New Zealand rivalry.”

The Australian team carried a 1-nil lead for almost the entire match against the New Zealanders before a late equaliser sent the match into a shootout.

But it was the Bathurst group and their Country team-mates who become the first side to etch their name into the trophy.

The tournament provided a mixed level of difficulty for the Australian side over the six matches.

Australia got off to a clean start with a 7-nil win over Papua New Guinea before defeating Vanuatu 7-1 the following day.

Willott got herself active on the scoreboard in the Vanuatu encounter, picking up a double.

New Zealand edged home over the Australians before yet another Willott brace got the Country team home 2-1 over the host nation, earning a spot in the final.

Another 7-nil win, this time over Samoa, gave the Australians an ideal lead-up to the decider.

Despite some bigger wins, Willott said it was great to see the smaller island nations making progress with their hockey programs.

“It’s quite deceiving with those scores against Vanuatu and Samoa. Yes, we had some big margins, but their hockey is very good. I think they’ve had some Aussie girls over there helping with their coaching,” she said. 

“They played well and I think that they’re only going to continue to improve.

“Fiji and New Zealand were both very physical. New Zealand were one of those teams that as soon as they walked on the field you knew straight away it was going to be a tough game ... and the Fijians were obviously used to the heat while we were getting exhausted.”