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 Nu'uausala – it was Fiji who got off to the better start.
Cowboys NRLW player Vitalina Naikore saw her side out to a 4-0 lead on six minutes with a try out wide, before Samoa responded with a four-pointer to Eels wing Lindsay Tui.
After a long period of defending on their own line, Soward's charges backed up with another try to Taylor Mapusua, before Nu'uausala struck a telling blow just before the break with her side's third.
Fiji enjoyed a couple of strong scoring chances early in the second period and were unlucky not to get over, but soon found themselves further behind after Tui secured her personal double.
Trailing 20-4 with 20 to play, the Fijians then hit go with a pair of tries in quick succession which closed the gap to eight and set up an exciting finish.
First Naikore scored the best try of the day after getting on the end of a clever cross-field kick from Sereana Naitokatoka, before a spirited carry saw Aliti Namoce finish over the line.
Samoa centre Petesa Lio then added to her side's woes by ending up in the sin bin for a professional foul, but despite the numerical disadvantage her teammates managed to stem the tide and put the result beyond doubt with a second try to Mapusua inside the final minute.