Tonga Invitational XIII
16
Match Complete
Australia
12
| K. Staggs |  | 55 | ||
| T. P. Junior |  | 53 | ||
| M. Jennings | | 45 | ||
| 31 | | L. Mitchell | ||
| 30 | | P. Vaughan | ||
| 27 | | L. Mitchell | ||
| 26 | | J. Wighton | ||
| K. Staggs | | 22 | ||
| W. Hopoate | | 20 |
| 3 | Tries | 2 | ||
| 2 | Conversions | 2 | ||
| 0 | Penalty Goals | 0 | ||
| 0 | Field Goals | 0 |
Match result:
Australia has been stunned by the Tonga Invitational team tonight, going down 16-12 at Eden Park in New Zealand.
Final score
Australia 12
Tonga 16
Match preview:
International Rugby League is back on the menu tonight with a triple-header hosted at Eden Park in Auckland. The last of these matchups features the much anticipated clash between Australia and the Tonga Invitational team. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 5:40pm AEDT.
The Kangaroos’ 26-4 win last weekend looks comfortable on paper, but they were assisted by two length-of-the-field tries, off New Zealand errors, and a disappointing kicking game from the hosts which didn’t test Australia’s defence.
That’s perhaps understandable given Mal Meninga has control of a new-look team, and we can expect a more polished performance tonight.
That said, Damien Cook and James Tedesco were terrific against New Zealand and any tired Tongan middle defence will be punished.
There is only one change to the Kangaroos squad, with Cameron Murray to make his test debut, off the bench, in place of Ben Hunt.
After beating New Zealand two years ago, the Tonga Invitational team took another big scalp last Saturday night, beating Great Britain 14-6 in Hamilton.
The Tongan forward pack were dominant in the first half, controlling enough territory and possession to put points on the board. The second half was less flawless with plenty of errors from both teams, but the Tongan defence covered well against anything the Great Britain team threw at them.
In changes, Ato Hingano has recovered from injury and will take his place at halfback, while Andrew Fifita has been named to start at prop ahead of Addin Fonua-Blake.
Prediction
The clash between these forward packs will be immense tonight with the Kangaroos trying to limit the “go forward” of the Tongan pack.
If they can, the class of the Australian halves, plus Damien Cook, should create enough chances for the Kangaroos to win.
The first 20 minutes will be a great tussle, but I’m expecting a good Australian victory.
Kangaroos by 14 points
When: 5:40pm AEDT
Where: Eden Park, Auckland
TV: Fox League, GEM
Online: Live Pass, Kayo
Betting: Australia: $1.12; Tonga Invitational: $6.20
Australia
1. James Tedesco, 2. Josh Addo-Carr, 3. Latrell Mitchell, 4. Jack Wighton, 5. Nick Cotric, 6. Cameron Munster, 7. Daly Cherry-Evans, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Damien Cook, 10. David Klemmer, 11. Boyd Cordner (c), 12. Tyson Frizell, 13. Jake Trbojevic.
Interchange: 14. Cameron Murray, 15. Payne Haas, 16. Paul Vaughan, 17. Wade Graham
Tonga
1. Will Hopoate, 2. David Fusita’a, 3. Michael Jennings, 4. Konrad Hurrell, 5. Daniel Tupou, 6. Tuimoala Lolohea, 7. Ata Hingano, 8. Andrew Fifita, 9. Siliva Havili, 10. Siosiua Taukeiaho, 11. Ben Murdoch-Masila, 12. Manu Ma’u, 1 3. Jason Taumalolo.
Interchange: 14. Sione Katoa, 15. Addin Fonua-Blake, 16. John Asiata, 17. Sitili Tupouniua
M
Guest
The guys from the golden years list to NZ in 2 big games.
Tonga Fan
Guest
That would make a huge difference yeah. Lol
Tonga Fan
Guest
LOL!!!!!!!!! Tonga is the FIRST tier TWO team to beat Kangaroos, the best team in the world!!!!! And that's not a huge upset????? Hahahahaha. So proud of you Tonga!!! Kangaroos did their best but the better team won!!! Accept it bro! #GOTonga! #Historymade
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
Lockyer and Daley are chief selectors so it would be a bit hard to ignore the QLD claims. Turbo would be in if fit and Radley is probably be the next forward in line and they're not from QLD.
Josh H
Roar Rookie
I'm a Queensland fan but to believe that Australia losing is because they are deliberately not picking enough Maroons players is ridiculous
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
Who knows if Cotric scores. He's pretty strong and knows how to get over the line. So I reckon he was a pretty good chance if the pass is delivered so he's running on to it. The only time I saw him bundled into touch he was a sitting duck under a high ball. Different story when you are running on to the ball rather than waiting for it. But agree that all they needed to do was draw and pass to score - elementary stuff - uncharacteristic panic stations by the Australians. And yes we really miss the likes of Smith, Locker, JT and Slater. Interesting period for the Aussies ahead. They've certainly come back to the pack. And Samoa need to be given plenty of credit for the way they've played against the Lions and Australia. They basically steamrolled both of them and apart from the forwards blokes like Lolohea and Jennings have been playing out of their skins. They fully deserved both of those wins.
Renegade
Roar Guru
Even he threw a perfect pass to cotric, I don’t think he scores (he got bundled to touch enough times).... they just needed to draw and pass in that last play it was a 3 man over lap.... everyone just threw wide as quickly as they could - that’s pressure. That said, Munster created plenty of opportunities on the left in the first.... yet Cordner has zero ball playing ability which was costly. Anyways, the better side won... Tonga were relentless - The golden years of having Lockyer, Slater, Thurston, Inglis, Smith and Cronk are over..... those guys were difference on so many occasions in the past...
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
Sure the Tongan forwards were terrific. Says a lot when you have Fifita and TPJ on the bench. For Australia Haas was excellent, Vaughan was pretty good but Papalii wasn’t as effective as he has been over the past 6 weeks or so and Klemmer was very quiet. I’m happy to dump on the backs if they don’t perform when the opportunities are there. DCE went missing when the clutch plays were on and Munster chose poor options at times. And while Tedesco gets a lot of plaudits for his explosive play he is human and has his faults. His passing game was virtually non-existent tonight when he had opportunities to bring the Aussie centres and wingers into the game and when the game was on the line in the final few minutes his pass to Cotric was a shocker. A better pass would have led to a try and scores tied.
Joe
Roar Rookie
Mitchell had a very poor game but I though his kick at the ball was not really a bad play as the Tongans had no defense at the back and Mitchell had Ado-Carr taking off after the ball beside him. If he had kicked it straight which I think he intended I think JAC scores under the posts.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
An upset but not a massive one. Tonga has beaten everyone else and this is an inexperienced Australian team to a fair extent. The Kiwis have beaten Australian teams in the past with several ''immortals'' in those Australian teams so it's no massive deal. The Tongan backs were no where near Australia in ability but they fired up and played better than us.
Joe
Roar Rookie
Surely he can't be on that $ figure. He has to be much higher than that. He has pretty much matched Taumalolo's efforts this series.
Tom G
Roar Rookie
When the forwards were so dominated it’s hard to single out the backs for criticism
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
You are saying that Meninga didn't get the team he wanted in that case. Who are all these great QLD players who missed out? The only QLD team which made the finals got beaten by a record score and NSW has won the last two SOO series.
Tom G
Roar Rookie
I agree it’s not like a team full of journeymen and park footy players.. these are some of the best forwards in the NRL.. add some very handy backs like Hopoate, Tupou, Staggs etc they’re a really formidable unit.
Tara
Guest
107 643
Cadfael
Roar Guru
Agree but how often has this been penalised in the NRL.
David Holden
Roar Guru
Didn't see a crowd number but will post here if I can find one
Joe
Roar Rookie
Tonga was just so dominant and just physically manhandled their Aussie counterparts. I have never seen Latrell Mitchell dominated physically like tonight and that is basically what happened all across the park. The Australian stars were poor and made crucial errors, Munster, Mitchell, Teddy, DCE...that's pretty much where it all went wrong. Two plays at the end showed they cracked under pressure....Munsters attempted offload in the 3rd tackle and then in the last minute not being able to take advantage of a simple overlap that they would have aced in 99.9% of games. This has been a great advertisement for the game.
Pickett
Roar Rookie
Oh here we go...
Pickett
Roar Rookie
Or maybe their Irish forefathers were missionaries in Tonga?