Samoa edge Tonga in Hamilton to qualify for 2023 World Cup
Manu Samoa have qualified for the 2023 World Cup after dispatching Tonga in a 37-15 victory at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton.
The win earned Samoa a 79-28 aggregate victory over their Pacific Island neighbours after they defeated their Pacific Island neighbours 42-13 at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland in the first leg of the tie last week.
As a result, Samoa will compete at rugby’s next global showpiece event in France as Oceania 1, placing them alongside England, Japan, Argentina and Americas 2 (likely to be the USA, Canada or Uruguay) in Pool D.
The victory to secure qualification two years early will be a relief for the Samoans, who had to combat slippery and wet conditions to overcome a bruising Tongan outfit in front a small but boisterous crowd.
Despite the unappealing weather, Samoa weren’t afraid to throw the ball around as first-five Rodney Iona put his teammates in the wider channels into space time and time again with some lovely cut out balls.
That attacking output, which came was the rain eased, was balanced out by some neat kicking as both sides looked to plug the corners when the drizzle was pouring down.
However, in spite of Tonga’s best defensive efforts, led by bullish No 8 Nasi Manu, it was Samoa who struck first as Iona found wing Ed Fidow with a cracking long ball to put the Worcester Warriors speedster over the tryline in the right-hand corner.
That made the score 13-3 after ‘Ikale Tahi first-five James Faiva and Western Force midfielder Henry Taefu traded penalties inside the opening quarter of an hour.
Faiva’s boot wasn’t able to keep Tonga in the contest for much longer, though, as Hurricanes halfback Jonathan Taumateine finished off a scintillating attacking move that was again kickstarted by Iona’s distribution.
Cutting out numerous Tongan defenders with another sweeping pass out to the left, Iona found Hawke’s Bay wing Neria Fomai in open space, and the Highlanders injury reserve busted through four tackles before linking up with Tomasi Alosio, who in turn shovelled it onto Taumateine to cap off a ripper of a team try.
Trailing 20-3 at the break, Tonga needed to be the first to score after half-time, and that they did through reserve hooker Jay Fonokalafi, who burrowed over from close range following a long period of sustained pressure deep in Samoan territory.
Not only did Tonga score first, but they also scored second, as Auckland loose forward Sione Tuipulotu crossed the line in similar fashion to Fonokalafi just five minutes later.
Fiji head coach Vern Cotter knows his side did well in last week’s clash against the All Blacks in Dunedin, but he’s also aware improvements are needed ahead of Saturday’s clash in Hamilton.
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Hulking second-five Nikolai Foliaki could have easily scored Tonga’s second after fielding an inch-perfect cross-kick from Faiva before using Fidow as a speed bump moments before Tuipulotu’s try, but the Samoan wing did enough to stop him from breaching the tryline by wrapping himself around the midfielder’s bootlaces.
Those back-to-back tries seemed to give Tonga a glimmer of hope of salvaging a result even though the aggregate score looked out of reach, and that gave Toutai Kefu’s squad a noticeable boost as the game entered its final quarter.
First it was star prop Ben Tameifuna who burst through the Samoan defensive line from the middle of the park, and then it was the hard-running of Faiva that put Samoa under a mountain of pressure.
That onslaught proved too much for loosehead prop Tietie Tuimauga, who was sin binned for repeated infringements in the 65th minute.
Nevertheless, Seilala Mapasua’s men held firm to win not one but two turnovers deep inside their own half to deny the Tongans a try that would have brought them within one score of their arch rivals.
Instead, it was Hawke’s Bay midfielder Stacey Ili who had the next say as he regathered a delicately-placed chip kick by Iona to scamper past the Tongan defensive line and score the final try of the encounter.
Counties Manukau prop Kalolo Tuiloma then closed out the affair with a ground-and-pound effort to crash over underneath the sticks and give Samoa their second successive win over Tonga in the space of a week.
With World Cup football now a certainty, Samoa can rest assured knowing they can now use the next two years to best prepare themselves for France 2023.
As for Tonga, their attention will now turn to next week’s one-off clash with the Cook Islands in Pukekohe as a place for the Oceania 2 spot at the World Cup goes on the line.
Samoa 37 (Tries to Ed Fidow, Jonathan Taumateine, Stacey Ili and Kalolo Tuiloma; 4 conversions and 3 penalties to Hnery Taefu; yellow card to Tietie Tuimauga)
Tonga 15 (Tries to Jay Fonokalafi and Sione Tuipulotu; conversion and penalty to James Faiva)
Comments on RugbyPass
No Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
3 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
3 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
54 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
54 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
3 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
54 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
54 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
54 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
18 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
18 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
54 Go to comments