Penina Pasifika is a sign of continued growth in women’s rugby in the Pacific

As a sign of continued growth of women's rugby in the Pacific, a new side took to the field last weekend under the banner of Penina Pasifika.

In the first of three matches, the team made up of the best players from Tonga and Samoa played the Queensland Reds from the Super Rugby Women's competition in a pre-season game, eventually going down 17-7.

The Pasifika side was leading 7-5 at halftime.

This surprised a lot of people as the team has been together for just over a week.

Penina Pasifika have got more fixtures against the ACT Brumbies and NSW Waratahs coming up this month.

The new side is being underwritten by the Australian Government through the PacificAus Sports programme, and funding is available for at least the next three seasons.

However, regardless of how they perform, there is no immediate intention to slot Penina Pasifika into the Super Rugby competition proper, where the Fijian Drua Women’s side have been champions for the last two years.