It wasn’t always pretty, but Mate Ma’a Tonga improved their Rugby League World Cup record to 2-0 on Monday morning (AEDT) with a 32-6 victory over Wales.
The underdogs scored first in the 15th minute through Ryan Evans, capitalising on multiple fundamental errors from the Tongan outfit, before Daniel Tupou levelled the scores in the 20th minute.
David Fifita and Keaon Koloamatangi both scored before half-time to give Tonga the 16-6 lead, before Tupou added two more after the break to put the game out of reach for the Welsh.
?? David Fifita crashes over to give Tonga the lead.
Too strong ? #RLWC2021 #TONWAL pic.twitter.com/U8wdYVz7NP
— Rugby League World Cup 2021 (@RLWC2021) October 24, 2022
But while other heavyweights including Australia and England rack up huge scores against the weaker opposition, Tonga have only scraped through in their two matches to date against Papua New Guinea and Wales.
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Kristian Woolf admitted his side’s attitude may have been an issue in the early stages of their second game, but pointed to the absence of Jason Taumalolo as a factor in their mediocre displays.
“It’s a little bit like last week, we’ve got a lot of improvement in us,” he said post-game.
“We left a lot of points out there tonight, just with our basic catch-pass execution. I thought we defended really well, we gave up one try with the ball there just being a little bit loose. That discipline with the ball was a little bit of an issue for us tonight.
“We probably looked like we thought it was going to be a little bit easier, and you tend to get a lesson when you go out there thinking that.
“I think you can see the potential there. We’re going to get better, I thought we showed some signs of improvement and there will be some key guys that come in the next couple of weeks who will make a big difference.
“We’re going to be better, there is no doubt there – we are building and we are getting a little bit better and a little bit more match fitness.
“Once we get it right, we’ve got plenty of points in us.”
Tonga brought in Talatau Amone in the halves this week to partner Tui Lolohea, as Woolf continues to test out the combinations throughout the group stage.
Tesi Niu also had a strong night for Tonga, crossing for a try and adding plenty of spark from the fullback role.
?? Tesi Niu ignores the left edge to score a great try for Tonga.#RLWC2021 #TONWAL | @BBCSport pic.twitter.com/JQz1nQfnHm
— Rugby League World Cup 2021 (@RLWC2021) October 24, 2022
But the star of the show was Tupou, who crossed for a hat-trick and could have had more if not for some poor execution inside him.
“I’m extremely grateful, the boys did all the hard work through the middle and I just had to finish it,” he said
“They [Wales] played outstanding and started well, and we just gave them too much ball and they utilised it. We just needed to hold the ball and complete our sets and get to a kick…they did an outstanding job.
“We wanted to start well, start strong and fast – we just didn’t respect the ball in the first-half and it led to their first try. We know what we need to fix and the individual errors are what we need to work on.
“That’s the path we are trying to set and work towards. We are just taking it one game at a time, and we will take our lessons out of tonight’s win and celebrate.”
Tonga will take on Cook Islands in their final group game, while Wales will look to finish off with a victory against PNG.