'It's something we need to look at' - Toutai Kefu highlights reason behind Tonga's early World Cup exit
Tonga coach Toutai Kefu has lamented the Pacific islanders' slow starts at the Rugby World Cup in Japan after their dream of a maiden quarter-final was crushed having fallen short in a thriller against France.
Tonga were 17-0 behind at Kumamoto Stadium on Sunday until they scored a try on the cusp of halftime, and though they showed great courage to push France to the brink, they left their run too late in a 23-21 defeat.
Having had sluggish starts in earlier pool-game losses to England and Argentina, Kefu said he and his staff needed to address the issue.
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"We coaches talked about it straight away, post-game. Maybe we warm up for too long. It's something we need to look at," the former Australia loose forward told reporters.
"It's probably just a mental thing, because as you can see, we finished the game really well. It is definitely an issue for us.
"We regret starting poorly. If we had started better, we might have won the game."
Tonga could take encouragement from their second-half display as they pressured France with bone-jarring tackling and some neat attacking moves.
When flanker Zane Kapeli collected a cross-kick for a last-gasp try, it briefly appeared as if they might emulate their stunning 19-14 upset of France in New Zealand eight years ago, the biggest shock of the 2011 World Cup.
France held on though, leaving the Tongans to play only for pride in their last pool match against the United States.
"We wanted to create history again, knowing what the old boys did in 2011 against France," said winger Cooper Vuna, who played two tests for Australia in 2012.
"We did well against England, we improved a bit more against Argentina, and coming here against France we thought that we should be competing with the tier-one nations.
"We're definitely not far off it. The more resources we need that we can get, the better it will be for us."
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Everywhere you turn some irish journo is advocating Ireland as the greatest, reasoning that the wc is a 4 year cycle event so, they say wc doesn’t matter it’s the rugby in between that should account for the accolade. If there was no wc then some substance could be gained, however in my opinion the moment that defined Ireland’s fate against the abs was 37 phases of repeated head bashing against a brick wall. If a change in strategy or a tinker with the game plan was executed then things could've been vastly different. And to point a finger the let down was in the hands of the number 10.
Go to commentsI have heard it asked if RA is essentially one of the part owners and I suppose therefor should be on the other side of these two parties. If they purchased the rebels and guaranteed them, and are responsible enough they incur Rebels penalties, where is this line drawn? Seems rough to have to pay a penalty for something were your involvement sees you on the side of the conned party, the creditors. If the Rebels directors themselves have given the club their money, 6mil worth right, why aren’t they also listed as sitting with RA and the Tax office? And the legal threat was either way, new Rebels or defunct, I can’t see how RA assume the threat was less likely enough to warrant comment about it in this article. Surely RA ignore that and only worry about whether they can defend it or not, which they have reported as being comfortable with. So in effect wouldn’t it be more accurate to say there is no further legal threat (or worry) in denying the deal. Unless the directors have reneged on that. > Returns of a Japanese team or even Argentinean side, the Jaguares, were said to be on the cards, as were the ideas of standing up brand new teams in Hawaii or even Los Angeles – crazy ideas that seemingly forgot the time zone issues often cited as a turn-off for viewers when the competition contained teams from South Africa. Those timezones are great for SR and are what will probably be needed to unlock its future (cant see it remaining without _atleast _help from Aus), day games here are night games on the West Coast of america, were potential viewers triple, win win. With one of the best and easiest ways to unlock that being to play games or a host a team there. Less good the further across Aus you get though. Jaguares wouldn’t be the same Jaguares, but I still would think it’s better having them than keeping the Rebels. The other options aren’t really realistic 25’ options, no. From reading this authors last article I think if the new board can get the investment they seem to be confident in, you keeping them simply for the amount of money they’ll be investing in the game. Then ditch them later if they’re not good enough without such a high budget. Use them to get Jaguares reintergration stronger, with more key players on board, and have success drive success.
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