They battled sweltering heat and humidity, but with a try on the stroke of full-time the NSW Young Achievers under-16 side secured a thrilling four-point win over their Papua New Guinean counterparts in Port Moresby on Saturday.
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For the side, which included Orange CYMS trio Josh Board, Nathan Swain and Codey Ramsey, the victory was the perfect way to cap their once-in-a-lifetime tour of PNG.
After conceding twice in the opening three minutes to trail PNG 10-0, NSW worked themselves back into the game and scored a converted try to cut the deficit to four points at the half-time break.
They took the lead not long after the break with another converted try, but a PNG penalty goal locked things up at 12-12 with just minutes left on the clock.
NSW broke through in the dying stages to secure a 16-12 win.
The game was played as a curtain-raiser for the Prime Minister’s XIII’s clash with PNG, which the former side won 58-0, in front of 15,000 fans in 32 degree heat.
It came after the NSW side had enjoyed an opposed session against the Prime Minister’s XIII and spent time running coaching clinics at the Aroma Coast, where they played out a 12-12 draw in a warm-up game too, in the lead up to Saturday.
The NSW side did plenty of community and school visits around PNG too, and had an eye-opening experience alongside the Prime Minister’s XIII at the Bomana War Memorial, at the southern end of the Kokoda Track, where more than 3,500 Australians are buried.