Canada falls short against Tonga

Canada’s Pacific Nations Cup campaign has come to a close without a win as they fell short by 33-23 to Tonga in Lautoka on Friday. A late surge closed the gap after a sluggish first hour that left them 20 points behind late in the second half.

The Tongan forwards were dominant from the start. A series of short passes and offloads put them in scoring position and from a five-meter scrum they attacked to the short side. Simple hands hit Tevita Halaifonua going at pace and the big fullback carried two defenders over the line with him for the try.

Each side suffered early injury problems. After Gordon McRorie slotted a penalty goal, both Fotu Lokotui and Eric Howard felt the field after just 20 minutes. Sione Vailanu came on for the Ikale Tahi and proved a handful, bouncing off would-be tacklers and setting the platform for Viliami Lolohea to come in off his wing and blast his way over.

Hardly any time had passed and Tonga were in a third time. Tane Takulua grabbed a loose ball from a lineout and made territory before Vailanu was at it again. Quick ball from the ruck went to Mali Hingano, who split the Canadian midfield and wrong-footed Peter Nelson to reach the goal.

Now facing a 19-3 deficit, Canada managed to get one back just before halftime. This time the lineout throw found its target and when the maul sucked in the forwards, Phil Mack spotted the Tongan defense shorthanded. He committed the final defender and put Jeff Hassler into the corner.

Within two minutes of the restart Tonga were in again. Once more the heavyweights went to work and this time it was replacement prop Latu Talakai, only just on the field, who took the offload from James Faiva off the deck to crash over the line.

More replacements entered the game as legs tired in the Fijian sun. Nelson moved into flyhalf and put up a cross-kick to the wing. Halaifonua was under it but couldn’t pick it out of the skies, the loose ball skipping away and Patrick Parfrey was quickest to pounce for an opportunistic try.

An explosion of three tries in five minutes would wrap up the scoring. Vailanu finished off a Tongan attack with a short pick-and-dive in under the sticks. Afa Pakalani broke free from the restart but his pass to Cooper Vuna hit the ground instead, and Parfrey was there to scoop it up and connect on a two-on-one with DTH van der Merwe for a try against the run of play.

Nick Blevins slipped through to set up the final score. Parfrey was on his shoulder to take the offload and in turn deliver the scoring pass to Hassler for his double. Canada would mount one last assault on the Tongan line but Tyler Ardron was held up in-goal to bring on the final whistle.

Both teams have a week off to recuperate before their World Cup preparations continue. Tonga are due to take on the Western Force on August 24, with Canada hosting Leinster in Hamilton on the same day.

 

SCORING

TONGA 33
Tries – T. Halaifona (7′), V. Lolohea (27′), M. Hingano (32′), L. Talakai (42′), S. Vailanu (68′)
Cons – T. Takulua 3/4 (8′, 28′, 43′), L. Fosita 1/1 (69′)

CANADA 23
Tries – J. Hassler 2 (39′, 72′), P. Parfrey (62′), D. van der Merwe (70′)
Cons – G. McRorie 0/3, P. Nelson 0/1
Pens – G. McRorie 1/1 (17′)

 

TEAMS

TONGA
1 Paea Fa’anunu (17 Latu Talakai HT), 2 Paul Ngauamo (16 Elvis Taione 66′), 3 Siua Halanukonuka (18 Ben Tameifuna HT), 4 Leva Fifita (20 Dan Faleafa 45′), 5 Sam Lousi, 6 Steve Mafi, 7 Fotu Lokotui (19 Sione Vailanu 19′), 8 Zane Kapeli, 9 Tane Takulua (21 Leon Fukofuka 58′), 10 James Faiva (22 Latiume Fosita 60′), 11 Viliami Lolohea, 12 Siale Piutau (capt.) (23 Cooper Vuna 60′), 13 Mali Hingano, 14 Afa Pakalani, 15 Tevita Halaifonua

CANADA
1 Djustice Sears-Duru (17 Hubert Buydens 69′), 2 Eric Howard (16 Benoît Pifféro 21′), 3 Matt Tierney (18 Cole Keith 64′), 4 Mike Sheppard (19 Conor Keys 58′), 5 Evan Olmstead, 6 Luke Campbell (20 Matt Heaton 58′), 7 Lucas Rumball, 8 Tyler Ardron (capt.), 9 Phil Mack (23 Patrick Parfrey 61′), 10 Gordon McRorie, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 12 Ciaran Hearn (22 Nick Blevins 69′), 13 Ben LeSage, 14 Jeff Hassler, 15 Peter Nelson

Not used: 21 Kainoa Lloyd

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU)
Assistants: Ben O’Keeffe (NZRU) & Tevita Rokovereni (FRU)