Tonga have secured themselves a World Cup quarterfinal berth with a 32-18 win over Samoa in front of a packed house at Waikato Stadium.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
Samoa 18
Tonga 32
Tonga will be looking to make it two wins in a row when they take on Samoa in Round 2 of the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. Join The Roar on Saturday afternoon for a live blog of the match at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton from 5:30pm (AEDT).
The Tongans impressed with a 50-4 win against Scotland in the Cairns heat last week, scoring seven tries in the first 40 minutes to head into the sheds leading 38-0, but took their foot off the accelerator, with a sloppy second-half effort.
Jason Taumalolo was a real handful for the Scottish defence, scoring a try and making metres seemingly at will. Out wide, Michael Jennings scored a hat-trick of tries and Daniel Tupou grabbed a double.
Samoa had a much tougher first-round assignment, taking on New Zealand in Auckland and going down 38-8. They were only trailing 10-4 at the break, but the Kiwis surged away with five tries in the second stanza.
The Samoans have had to make one change this week, with Peter Mata’utia forced out due to a quad injury – Cronulla’s Ricky Leutele will take his place on the wing, while Fa’amanu Brown comes onto the bench.
Tonga have made two changes to their backline, with Warriors pair Solomone Kata (centre) and David Fusitu’a (wing) replacing Konrad Hurrell and Manu Vatuvei.
Prediction
The Tongans are heavy favourites for this match, and with good reason – they are strong across the park and should have too much firepower for the Samoans.
Tonga by 14.
Join The Roar on Saturday afternoon for a live blog of the match between Samoa and Tonga at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton from 5:30pm (AEDT).
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Yeah, and the fans who attended were howling in protest. (rolls eyes)
Peter
Guest
Moderators, enough is enough. This is surely enough to have this cretin thrown off the site.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Ah, one of those types...
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
How were the Tongan halves? If Tonga can somehow pull out a win over New Zealand next week, by my calculations, Australia would then have to face New Zealand in a semi-final. How mouth watering would that be?
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
I'm not impressed. But then, having no commentary and just running soundtrack loop of seagulls flying over the ocean would still put Channel Nine commentary to shame.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
+ 400... ...million
Fourteen14
Guest
So what they dont feel like citizens in those countries anyway they are their collect money for their family and country.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Yeah, because Fifita and Taumalolo missed out on selection for Australia and New Zealand... (rolls eyes)
Nat
Roar Guru
He is a soccer clown. No idea there are players declining Aust and NZ jerseys to play for their respective nations. He can only talk international because no ones cares about soccer in this country. 14 teams and he highlights Italy and Lebanon as his examples. Aussie Gus was our most successful soccer coach, along with Russia... Oh the hypocrisy!
John Coomer
Roar Guru
Ha ha, I should have had a bet!
John Coomer
Roar Guru
Thanks for joining me on the overage, hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to leave your comments on the game.
John Coomer
Roar Guru
Match report TONGA 32 SAMOA 18 Tonga have secured themselves a World Cup quarter final berth with a 32-18 win over in front of a packed house at Waikato Stadium. The atmosphere at the ground was incredible, helped by the passion and intensity shown by both teams just before kick-off. Both teams put in spirited efforts across the eighty minutes. The Tongans scored two tries to one in the first half to head into the sheds leading 14-6. Centre Michael Jennings has continued his World Cup try-scoring spree, picking up a double in the first forty minutes to add to the hat-trick he scored last week against Scotland. His first try came in the 10th minute, after Samoan winger Ken Maumalo spilled a last tackle kick and Jennings was on hand to pounce on the ball to score. The Samoans hit back with a try to hooker Jazz Tevaga in the 17th minute, after he burrowed his way over from dummy half from close range. That levelled the scores at 6-all. The Tongans then landed a penalty goal before Jennings scored his second try in the 29th minute, again from a kick. Winger Daniel Tupou used his height to bat a bomb back infield and Jennings again was there to ground the ball for a try. The Tongans then skipped away to 26-6 after scoring the first two tries of the second half. The first came in the 51st minute after interchange forward Peni Terepo used his strength to get the ball down under the posts, despite the attention of several defenders. Then in the 59th minute, fellow interchange forward Ben Murdoch-Masila used his size and momentum to get the ball over the line after running strongly onto a ball from five-eighth Tui Lolohea. But the Samoans refused to give up, responding with two tries of their own to reduce the margin to 26-18 and give their fans some hope of a miracle comeback. The first came in the 64th minute, when prop Junior Paulo offloaded a great ball to halfback Ben Roberts for a try. In the 72nd minute, centre Tim Lafai used his footwork and size to plant the ball down for a try out wide. The Tongans then steadied the ship though and finished the job with a try in the 78th minute to backrower Manu Ma’u, who ran onto a great ball from halfback Ata Hingano. Next week, Tonga will face their biggest test when they come up against New Zealand in their final round pool match, though both teams have already qualified for the quarter finals. It will be interesting to see what reception backrower Jason Taumalolo gets from New Zealand fans and his former Kiwi teammates after his last-minute decision to play for Tonga at this tournament. The loss today means that Samoa’s final match of the tournament will be against Scotland next week, but they certainly haven’t lost any fans with their gutsy displays so far against Tonga and New Zealand.
sham
Guest
Yes they are representing their culture to decry that is incredibly disrespectful. The Wallabies have Fijians playing for them how us that better than Fijians representing their own culture?
Joe
Roar Rookie
That was just an awesome game. Credit to both teams and their fans, what an atmosphere!! That had more noise than the Grand Final. Great passion shown by both sides.
Josh
Expert
Tonga by 14... not bad, John.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Take a hike.
greenbridge1930
Roar Rookie
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the NRL players representing any nation they feel like after missing out on Aus/NZ selection. What a joke.
Nat
Roar Guru
If he could put in better, more competitive kicks they could've kept the pressure on.
John Coomer
Roar Guru
Margin bet?
John Coomer
Roar Guru
Full-time The hooter sounds and its victory for TONGA! TONGA 32 SAMOA 18