Extreme wet weather cut the Women’s test series short. The Australians, led by first-time Australian captain Jess McCall, took home the series and displayed such a dominant performance in the first two games – cruising to comfortable 9-5 and 8-5 wins in games one and two, respectively – that Touch New Zealand and Touch Football Australia (TFA) agreed to cut out the third test match in order to help preserve the field for the Men’s and Mixed series. In game one of the Men’s, Australia, led by Nick Good, achieved a hard-fought 8-6 win in which Dylan Hennessey demonstrated why he is widely regarded as the world’s best player, with two tries in the opening six minutes. They carried a 3-1 lead into the half-time break, after which Pete Norman broke ranks and was the first Aussie to score in the second half. Though every time the Australians stretched to a comfortable lead, the Kiwis responded to stay in the hunt. The game was in the balance heading into the final five minutes, but Scott Bundy scored a final try within the last 90 seconds for a 1-0 lead in the best of three series. Touch New Zealand hosted the Open Trans-Tasman (OTT) 2018 at Rotorua International Stadium on 27th to 29th April. Australia took home the series, completely dominating in the Women’s division, and taking two wins out of three in both the Men’s and Mixed divisions. TRANS-TASMAN TRANS-TASMAN 6 | Keeping In Touch 2018