Tonga were at their destructive best in the final game of the Rugby League World Cup’s opening weekend, thrashing Scotland by 46 points.
The Tongans wasted no time getting the scoreboard ticking on an uncomfortably hot afternoon in Cairns, running up 38 first-half points.
Scotland hadn’t touched the ball when Michael Jennings scored his first try of the match, splitting the defence through the middle of the park.
The fun didn’t end there for Jennings, who put on a first-half hat-trick.
While Scotland appeared to be in the game for most of the first 20 minutes, the extra defence they were being asked to do in the warm conditions caught up with them, fatigue allowing the points to add up as Tonga scored six tries in the final 23 minutes of the first half.
Jason Taumalolo barged over next to the posts for the first of those, before Jennings had his second in the very next set. It was becoming clear by that point that Tonga were going to run away with the game and it became even more obvious when Sika Manu burst through the defence for a try.
Daniel Tupou was next over the line for Tonga as they moved ahead of the clock, before they bombed a couple of opportunities.
Scotland, still struggling to get their hands on the ball struggled to get back into it though, and another flurry before halftime saw Peni Terepo and Jennings extend the lead.
It wasn’t the same story after halftime. The game became a drop-a-thon, with errors and penalties characterising the game.
Danny Addy scored a consolation try for Scotland 18 minutes from fulltime as they physically matched Tonga, but a couple of lazy efforts in defence during the last ten minutes allowed tries to Tupou and Ata Hingano as Tonga made a half-century.
Both teams will now jump on a plane bound for New Zealand with Scotland set to play the co-hosts in Christchurch and Tonga facing Samoa in Waikato next week.
Tonga 50
Scotland 4
New coach Michael Maguire is considering as many as 50 players for the State of Origin series opener with not even captain James Tedesco…
All the team list information for Round 9.
NRL signings, contracts and rosters for the 2024 season and beyond.
Anzac Round is done and another NRL touchpoint is ticked off amid the onward march of the 2024 season. It helps to see things…
The Sydney Roosters have been dealt another major blow with club legend Luke Keary announcing that he will retire from the NRL at the…
The Bulldogs are facing a $4 million lawsuit from former player Jackson Topine, after allegedly being forced to wrestle his teammates as punishment for…
