Tonga have emphasised their status as a genuine Rugby League World Cup contender with a 30-12 win over England on Saturday night in Perth.
Led superbly by man of the match Isaiya Katoa and Robert Toia, forward Haumole Olakau’atu pounced for two tries in the second half first to extend Tonga’s lead then put the game out of England’s reach.
England weren’t without chances, though, repeatedly getting in behind only to be stifled by the Tongan defence.
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“It’s been a red wall, they’ve saved so many tries,” Luke Keary said on Channel 7.
James Graham said it was a “statement win” for Tonga.
“They’ve answered the first question,” he said.
The performance was celebrated by a strong Tongan crowd, who stuck around long after full-time to celebrate their heroes.
“I don’t think security know how to send them home! I think they’re staying here for the better part of the night,” Andrew Voss said.
His Majesty King Tupou VI and crown prince Tupouto’a ‘Ulukalala were among the sellout 18,302 crowd.
Trailblazer Jason Taumalolo praised the squad for coming together for the island nation.
Toia, who ran for a team-high 174 metres, only revealed after winning the NRL grand final that he would represent Tonga rather than Australia.
“We’ve got a group of talented players and if there’s one thing that’s brought this group together it’s the sacrifices they’ve made,” Taumalolo said.
“Some of the boys could’ve easily played for the bigger nations but they chose to represent our little country and our people. Forever grateful.”
England’s hopes of progressing out of the group are immediately under threat under the quickfire format.
Under the confusing group stage system employed for the World Cup, only two teams from across Pools B and C will progress to the last four.
If England finish on the same amount of wins as Tonga, then the Pacific nation will go through given they won Saturday’s head-to-head battle.
Should England and Samoa end up with the same number of wins, the tiebreaker will be which nation has the better points-for-and-against differential.
“Really disappointing but we’ve got a long tournament ahead of us,” captain George Williams said.
“We’ll dust ourselves off and go again. Credit to them but we’ve got lots to work on.”
England will face France next week then Papua New Guinea while Tonga will clash with Lebanon before a blockbuster group-stage finale against Samoa.
“Obviously it’s out of their hands now. We needed to win today to put our destiny in our own hands,” Graham said.
“Ultimately we’ve got to rely on Tonga to beat Samoa, a bit of foreign aid, do us a favour.
“With the big score Samoa put on France yesterday that adds to the degree of difficulty, so a mountain to climb for England to make the semi-finals.”
There were plenty of big hits early in the game of death, with England winger Zach Eckersley copping it big time after dropping a high ball and then being pummelled by a charging Dallin Watene-Zelezniak.
Stefano Utoikamanu opened the scoring in the 24th minute when he found a hole in England’s defence to stroll over untouched.
A pair of Katoa penalty goals extended the margin to 10 points by half-time, with England left to rue a series of fumbles and near misses.
England started the second half full of steam, resulting in a team-lifting try to AJ Brimson in the 46th minute.
But in a game where hard work was king, it was a slice of fortune that ended up giving Tonga a vital edge with Olakau’atu scoring the first of his two tries after he soccered the ball into an opponent’s arm and then gathered the bouncing rebound.
And when Tuimoala Lolohea’s neat dribble found Tolutau Koula in the corner to make it 22-6 in the 58th minute it was as good as game over.
Papua New Guinea thrash Lebanon
Earlier on Saturday, Rhyse Martin — in his last World cup campaign for PNG — has helped steer the Kumuls to a gritty 42-18 win over Lebanon.
Martin scored a try and didn’t miss with the boot in seven conversions at Santos National Football Stadium in Port Moresby on Saturday.
Martin’s personal tally of 14 points made him an obvious crowd favourite as he announced he will be retiring at the end of this World Cup to take up a role as football manager with new NRL team the PNG Chiefs.
His try with nine minutes left on the clock finished off the Cedars, who were fading in the Port Moresby humidity.
But Lebanon never stopped trying, with fullback Jacob Kiraz (207 metres) and winger Tony Frances (292 metres) constant threats in attack, while Wests Tigers stalwart Alex Twal led the defence with 48 tackles.
The Kumuls also unearthed a new star, Jarome Luai look-alike five-eighth Gairo Voro, who boasts flowing locks under his headgear along with his darting left- and right-stepping.
Fans can draw their own comparisons when the two halves face off in the Kumuls’ match against Samoa in Port Moresby next Saturday.
The Cedars, quarter-finalists at the 2022 World Cup, head to Sydney to face Tonga at CommBank Stadium on Friday night.
— with AAP
