By Megan Armitage at the LNER Community Stadium

Brad Donald felt Australia’s 10-8 victory over New Zealand showed women’s rugby league at its best as he prepares for similarly significant challenges in the knockout stages.

Australia head into their semi-final against Papua New Guinea undefeated after narrowly holding off the Kiwi Ferns in York.

Tarryn Aiken opened the scoring but New Zealand hit back to lead before Jess Sergis set up Julia Robinson to score the ultimately decisive try.

? Try saving tackles and thumping collisions, this game had it all!#RLWC2021 | @BBCSport | @AusJillaroos | @NZRL_Kiwis | #AUSNZL pic.twitter.com/QtryJpGNRG
— Rugby League World Cup 2021 (@RLWC2021) November 10, 2022

Donald said: "That was a really tough game and in terms of defence, a scoreline like that in 80 minutes really shows what these ladies are capable of and how great women's rugby league is. 

"I said to the girls at half time that this sort of game was exactly what we were after. 

"You can't expect to walk in, win every game and just win a World Cup and the Kiwis really showed us that tonight.

“They gave us a great game and showed us that we really have things to work on in our attack. 

“Yes, we had some errors but I'm really proud of how the girls bounced back overall."

Ricky Henry was similarly proud of his players’ efforts despite coming out on the losing side.

Tries from Apii Nicholls and Autumn-Rain Stephens Daly ensured the Kiwi Ferns pushed their opponents all the way, with Ali Brigginshaw’s conversion from Aiken’s opening score proving crucial.

?? New Zealand take the lead for the first time in the match!

The Kiwi Ferns work the ball wide and Raecene McGregor is waiting to dive over for New Zealand's second try of the night.#RLWC2021 | @BBCSport | @NZRL_Kiwis | #AUSNZL pic.twitter.com/SJzDUoJuz6
— Rugby League World Cup 2021 (@RLWC2021) November 10, 2022

The loss ensured that New Zealand finished second in Group B to set up a semi-final with England on Monday and Henry believed his team sent out a warning message ahead of their clash with the home nation and a potential rematch with the Jillaroos in the final.

"I'm really proud of that performance, the girls really dug deep there and both teams played some really good footy out there," he said. 

"It's fair to say that women's rugby league is well and truly alive. 

"I hope we sent a message to future teams. We're trying not to get ahead of ourselves, but we scrambled hard tonight. 

"We talked about effort and energy to keep us in the game, we knew they would be coming and worked really hard at crucial times in the game. We always knew they were going to be physical. 

"We didn't get the result so we've still got to go away and do the work.

“If we can get things going in the right direction then we can give Australia a shake if we do face them again."

The Rugby League World Cup promises to be the biggest, best and most inclusive event in the sport’s 127-year history with men’s, women’s and wheelchair teams competing in 61 games across 21 venues throughout England. Tickets are available via rlwc2021.com/tickets