Tonga thump Canada despite red card for former All Black
A 14-man Tonga side secured a 28-3 rugby victory over Canada, despite losing George Moala to a red card for a dangerous tackle at the Teufaiva Stadium in Nuku’alofa.
Tonga's 15th-ranked team - who are preparing for the Rugby World Cup in France - outplayed the 23rd-ranked Canada, who were returning to action after a 43-37 loss to Namibia in November that ended their hopes of making the tournament.
Benefiting from new eligibility rules, Toutai Kefu's Tonga entered the game well-stocked with the likes of Moala and Malakai Fekitoa lining up for the Ikali Tahi.
Canada played decently in the first half but failed to convert their opportunities into points, trailing 21-3 at halftime, their set piece - in particular - struggling.
They were thrown a lifeline when former All Black George Moala's dangerous tackle led to Tonga being reduced to 14 players in the second half, but the home side continued to dominate.
By the final whistle Tonga's Sione Vailanu had scored a brace of tries, while Sam Moli and Sonatane Takulua each added one, with the latter converting all four conversions.
Canada managed just one penalty through the boot of former Ulsterman Peter Nelson.
Tonga: 15 Afusipa Taumoepeau, 14 Kyren Taumoefolau, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 George Moala, 11 Fine Inisi, 10 Patrick Pellegrini, 9 Tane Takulua (captain), 8 Sione Vailanu, 7 Sione Havili, 6 Solomone Funaki, 5 Tanginoa Halaifonua, 4 Steve Mafi, 3 David Lolohea, 2 Sam Moli, 1 Tau Koloamatangi.
Replacements: 16 Paula Ngauamo, 17 Fe’ao Fotu’aika, 18 Ben Tameifuna, 19 Vaea Fitita, 20 Lopeti Timani, 21 Johnny Ika, 22 Otumaka Mausia, 23 Solomone Kata.
Canada: 15 Peter Nelson, 14 Kainoa Lloyd, 13 Ben LeSage, 12 Spencer Jones, 11 Isaac Olson, 10 Robbie Povey, 9 Ross Braude, 8 Siaki Vikilani, 7 Lucas Rumball, 6 Mason Flesch, 5 Conor Keys, 4 Izzak Kelly, 3 Conor Young, 2 Andrew Quattrin, 1 Liam Murray.
Replacements: 16 Foster Dewitt, 17 Djustice Sears-Duru, 18 Cole Keith, 19 Piers Von Dadelszen, 20 Siôn Parry, 21 Travis Larsen, 22 Jason Higgins, 23 Mitch Richardson.
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All of these media pundits always miss the obvious whenever they analyse what is ailing or assisting the game. Rugby always has contentious points for debate when picking apart individual games and finding fault with itself. All this focus and scrutiny on “speeding up the game”, “high ball in play” etc is all contextual to the fan. As a tv viewer, if you’re absorbed into a game, regardless if your team is playing or not, more ball in play time and action are all byproducts of the contest. A good contest subliminally affects your memory in selectively remembering all the good aspects. A poor contest and your brain has switched off because its a blowout and the result is never in doubt or it’s a real chore to watch and remain engaged throughout. The URC, Top 14 and English premiership are all competitions that feel like there’s real jeopardy each week. The dominance of Super rugby by NZ teams was unhealthy from a sustainable interest perspective. You can’t fault those teams or the players, but the lack of competitions won by SA and Australian teams long term was always going to test the faith and patience of die-hard and casual fans from those regions. SANZAR took their eye off the fans and fans voted with their feet and subscriptions. They were so concerned about expanding their product they forgot the golden rule about broadcasting live sport. Viewers tune in more when there’s an atmosphere and a true contest. You need to fill stadiums to create one, host unions need to do more to service ticket buyers, and this year proves the other, there’s more interest in Super rugby this year only because more games are competitive with less foregone conclusions. All these micro statistics bandied about, only interest the bean counters and trainspotters.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
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