Australia rocked by cruel injury to Keeley Davis on eve of Pacific Cup final

Jillaroos coach Jess Skinner will have a tough selection task on her hands for the Pacific Cup final as starting hooker Keeley Davis is ruled out due to a dislocated shoulder.

Davis lasted just shy of two minutes on the field against New Zealand in Australia's 10-4 win in the third round of the Pacific Championships on Sunday, as she went down in the back of play with a suspected elbow injury.

Davis was attempting to bring down Kiwi prop Tiana Davison when her arm got caught in an awkward position around her rival's body, causing her to fall out of the tackle.

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Kezie Apps and Ellie Johnston stepped in to halt the momentum of Davison while Davis moved to the side.

"That doesn't look good," Brad Fittler said in commentary on Nine.

The Australian hooker did not move from the floor as played continued on.

It was not until Australia gathered the ball four tackles later that referee Belinda Sharpe turned attention to Davis, who was being assisted by trainers to the sidelines.

"Just her facial expressions ... it doesn't look like she will be back," Fittler said as Davis left the field.

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Australian trainers soon after confirmed that Davis had dislocated her shoulder. It remains unclear if she will require surgery.

But Allana Ferguson noted that pressure will now build on Quincy Dodd to perform, with Australia's bench primarily built around the forward pack.

"You could see on her face from the get go that she was in a lot of strife," Ferguson said of Davis at half time.

"It will put a lot of pressure on Quincy Dodd, who will likely now have to play a full Test match at dummy half.

"It will be interesting to see what Jess Skinner does not only to the rotations but with the outside backs [for the final]."

"She didn't finish the season because she had ankle surgery," Fittler added of Dodd.

'It will be a real big test."

Australia's defence was then put to the test by their Kiwi rivals, who made four attempts at firing over the tryline in the space of 15 minutes.

None of their try scoring plays were successful, but neither were Australia's at the other end of the field.

It took 31 minutes until Jess Sergis snatched the first points of the match.

A quick play of the ball by Abbi Church saw the ball flicked over to her right, where Sergis stood ready to strike over the tryline.

Church's slick pass did not go unnoticed by New Zealand's defence, who had three players ready to deny Sergis, but she managed to twist out of the trio's tackle and ground the ball in the corner.

Church then got a try of her own to top off a dream debut in the green and gold jersey, extending Australia's lead in the 42nd minute.

New Zealand were not going to go down without a fight in the second half, though, with second-rower Annessa Biddle powering the length of the field to score.

Biddle's efforts could not be replicated by her teammates in the final minutes of the match as Australia secured a 10-4 victory in New Zealand.

The Kiwi Ferns will look to seek revenge against the Jillaroos in a weeks time, when the pair face off in the Pacific Cup final.