Tonga (18) 31 / Japan (13) 18 (Final Score)
Tonga and Japan did battle in Whangarei at 09:30 SA Time (19:30 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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What a good action-packed match!
The sides went hammer and tongs from the word go, no standing back!
It was thrust and parry, defend and run… brutal but honest rugby.
Scorers:
Tonga:
- Penalties – Kurt Morath (4)
- Drop Goals – 0
- Tries – Viliafi Ma’afu (1), Tukulua Lokotui (1), Tetu’u Vainikolo (1)
- Conversions – Kurt Morath (2)
Japan:
- Penalties – Shaun Webb (1)
- Drop Goals – 0
- Tries – Kensuke Hatakeyama (1), Michael Leitch (1), Alisi Tupuailai (1)
- Conversions – 0
Teams:
Tonga: 15 Vungakoto Lilo, 14 Fetu’u Vainikolo, 13 Siale Piutau, 12 Alipate Fatafehi, 11 Sukanaivalu Hufanga, 10 Kurt Morath, 9 Taniela Moa, 8 Viliami Ma’afu, 7 Sione Vaiomo’unga, 6 Sione Kalamafoni, 5 Paino Hehea, 4 Tukulua Lokotui, 3 Taufa’ao Filise, 2 Aleki Lutui (captain), 1 Soane Tonga’uiha.
Replacements: 16 Aloisio Ma’asi, 17 Alisona Taumalolo, 18 Halani Aulika, 19 Joseph Tu’ineau, 20 Samiu Vahafolau, 21 Samisoni Fisilau, 22 Viliame Iongi.
Japan: 15 Shaun Webb, 14 Kosuke Endo, 13 Alisi Tupuailai, 12 Ryan Nicholas, 11 Hirotoki Onozawa, 10 James Arlidge, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Takashi Kikutani (captain), 7 Michael Leitch, 6 Itaru Taniguchi, 5 Toshizumi Kitagawa, 4 Luke Thompson, 3 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Hisateru Hirashima.
Replacements: 16 Yusuke Aoki, 17 Nozomu Fujita, 18 Hitoshi Ono, 19 Sione Talikavili Vatuvei, 20 Atsushi Hiwasa, 21 Takehisa Usuzuki, 22 Murray Williams.
Date: Wednesday 21 September
Kick-off: 09:30 SA Time (19:30 NZ Time)
Venue: Northland Events Centre, Whangarei
Expected weather: Fine with a westerly breeze. Max 19°C, Min 9°C.
Referee: Dave Pearson (England)
Assistant referees: Alain Rolland (Ireland), Stuart Terheege (England)
TMO: Giulio De Santis (Italy)
Japan again steals the Tongan lineout… they will now throw EVERYTHING at Tonga… and they do.
Penalty Japan, on the Tongan 10m line… kicked to touch
Less than 2 min left… Japan within the 5m mark.
They get another penalty and a Tongan lock cops a Yellow.
Stab through by Japan… dotted down by the Tongan fullback
Time is just about finished, as a Tongan infringes, Penalty to Japan, against the replacement prop of Tonga
Penalty Tonga… do they want a try or will they kick it out.
They kick out… game over!
Final Score: Tonga 31 / 18 Japan
13-point margin
This was a very good advertisement for Rugby in general… and a bloody good show by 2 minnow nations!
I suppose in My Bru Pools, I’ll share the exact winning margin with all and sundry…. hehehe
Good result for me on Bru, I was the only one in the R-T Pool to pick the margin of 13.
Suddenly it’s elevated me to 2nd Position, 0.25 below Kwagga!
Grootblousmile is the winner in this game with a exact prediction.
Jumping to 2nd in our Pool.
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