New Zealand coach Marshal Boyd must be breathing a sigh of relief after watching the New Zealand Kiwis put together one of their finest performances in recent memory to claim the third Islanders' cup courtesy of a 36-18 victory over the visiting Kumuls.

After going behind early when Augustine Justine scored a try against the run of play for Papua New Guinea- the Kiwis hit back straight away with tries to Clinton Toopi and Christian Cullen to make it 12-4 after less than thirteen minutes of play. When Logan Swann scored shortly before the twentieth minute to make it 18-4, the game threatened to boil over. Superstar Graham Luana gave Kumul fans a glimmer of hope with a powerful try of his own though- putting Papua New Guinea behind 18-8. Sione Faumunia's try shortly before halftime set up a 24-8 halftime scoreline, with New Zealand looking in an excellent position to go on for the win.

New Zealand went into cruise control in the second half, early tries to Clinton Toopi and Logan Swann putting the game beyond doubt at 36-8. A double to Adrian Lam, including a try in the 73rd minute- gave the scoreline some respectability- but it was ultimately New Zealand's day as they carried the field with a solid 36-18 win to lead into the tri series against England and Australia.

FULLTIME: New Zealand 36 (Christian Cullen, Clinton Toopi 2, Logan Swann 2, and and Sione Faumunia. Mehrtens 6/6) defeated Papua New Guinea 18 (Adrian Lam 2, Augustine Justine, and Graham Luana. Luana 1/4).

MAN OF THE MATCH: Stacey Jones (New Zealand)

2 points............Andrew Mehrtens (New Zealand)
1 point..............Logan Swann (New Zealand)

st george players keep up the teams excellent come back with 3 of the pngs 4 tries.