Roar Guru
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Tonga vs Lebanon |
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Rugby League World Cup |
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Christchurch Stadium | ||
Tonga | Lebanon | |
24 | SCORE | 22 |
4 | Tries | 4 |
3 | Conversions | 3 |
1 | Penalty Goals | 0 |
0 | Field Goals | 0 |
Tonga have hung on to beat a gutsy Lebanon team 24-22 in an entertaining Rugby League World Cup quarter-final in Christchurch.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
Tonga 24
Lebanon 22
Tonga will start as the heavy favourites in their World Cup quarter-final against Lebanon at Christchurch Stadium. Join The Roar for a live blog of the action from 3pm (AEDT).
The Tongans should be full of confidence after their epic second-half comeback win over New Zealand in Waikato last weekend. That win was their third in a row and saw them finish undefeated at the top of Group B after the three World Cup pool rounds.
Their two earlier wins in the tournament were against Scotland and Samoa. The level of crowd support for Tonga in New Zealand makes playing there like a home game for them.
Lebanon’s only win in the pool rounds was against France in the first week, though they have had a tougher draw in Group A.
Since that victory, they’ve been beaten by both England and Australia. They were competitive during parts of both those matches, but it would be a major upset if they could overcome the surging Tongans this afternoon.
Tonga welcome back Michael Jennings from a hamstring injury this week. He replaces Mahe Fonua, who drops out of the squad. Jennings scored five tries in Tonga’s first two matches at this World Cup. Sam Moa has also been named on the bench in place of Peni Terepo.
Lebanon will be relying on big games from Robbie Farah, Mitchell Moses, Tim Mannah and Michael Lichaa.
The winner of this afternoon’s match will face the winner of tomorrow’s quarter-final between England and Papua New Guinea.
Prediction
Tonga by 16.