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Tonga powered past Canada by a final score of 30-17 to secure a 5th-place finish in the Pacific Nations Cup on Saturday. Played at a neutral venue in Tokyo, the Maple Leafs were outmuscled in the collisions and struggled to make inroads with ball in hand against a punishing Ikale Tahi defense.
An early opportunity presented itself to Canada when the Tongans turned the ball over in their end. Peter Nelson fired a cross-kick in the direction of Josiah Morra but the winger couldn’t quite hang on. The pressure stayed on until a penalty gave Nelson an easy shot at three to open the scoring.
A thunderous tackle from Nikolai Foliaki on Morra directly at the restart set the Tongans in motion. They turned down a shot at the posts in favor of the corner and it paid off immediately. Harison Mataele took the throw-in and the drive went over the line so quickly it was Siosiua Moala in the middle who got the credit for the try. Patrick Pellegrini knocked over the extras to make it a full seven.
Moala barged over the gainline from a lineout soon after and Pellegrini quickly spun it wide to an open John Tapueluelu. The winger shrugged off Cooper Coats and beat the cover to speed home from 40 meters out. Again Pellegrini was on song with the conversion.
Canada had a response this time. Their own maul was collapsed deliberately by Jethro Felemi, who was immediately sent to the bin for his troubles. A scrum was the order and Lucas Rumball peeled off the back. The captain was stopped short but Andrew Quattrin was on hand to finish from close range, the kick from Nelson making it a one-score game.
A turnover by the Maple Leafs on attack resulted in a 50-22 from Pellegrini, who spotted space in the left corner. With Felemi still in the bin, the Tongans pressed until Josiah Unga appeared on Pellegrini’s shoulder to take a short pass over for a try on debut. This time the kick sailed across the face of the uprights and the 19-10 score would hold until halftime.
Pellegrini stretched the lead by three after a line break from Fine Inisi, but the Tongans began to look lethargic. After a 20-minute stalemate the post defense was too slow coming across and Takoda McMullin had a free pass to pick from a ruck and race in under the posts from 15 meters out. Suddenly the gap was reduced to five points.
That would be as close as Canada would come. A yellow card to Ethan Fryer for a high shot on Moala gave Pellegrini an easy three, and after Nelson turned down a chance to response McMullin was belted by Fetuli Paea to snuff out an attack. A dominant scrum resulted in a walk-in for Tapueluelu on the left side as the clock ticked over full-time.
The two sides will now turn their attention to their end-of-year European tours. They will both be involved in a double-header at the Stadionul Arcul de Triumf in Bucharest on November 9th. Canada will take on Chile, while Tonga play hosts Romania.
| SCORING |
TONGA 30
Tries (4) – S. Moala (9′), J. Tupeluelu 2 (15′, 80′), J. Unga (25′)
Cons (2) – P. Pellegrini 2/4 (10′, 16′)
Pens (2) – P. Pellegrini 2/2 (47′, 71′)
YC (1) – J. Felemi (19′)
CANADA 17
Tries (2) – A. Quattrin (20′), Tk. McMullin (67′)
Cons (2) – P. Nelson 2/2 (21′, 68′)
Cons (1) – P. Nelson 1/1 (6′)
YC (1) – E. Fryer (70′)
| TEAMS |
TONGA
1 Jethro Felemi (17 Salesi Tuifua 54′), 2 Sefo Sakalia (16 Penisoni Fineanganofo 73′), 3 Ben Tameifuna (capt.) (18 Tau Koloamatangi 57′), 4 Harison Mataele (19 Kelemete Finau 54′), 5 Tevita Ahokovi, 6 Siosiua Moala (17 Salesi Tuifua 19′-29′), 7 Tupou Afungia (20 Vutulongo Puloka 65′), 8 Lotu Inisi, 9 Aisea Halo (21 Manu Paea 74′), 10 Patrick Pellegrini, 11 John Tapueluelu, 12 Fetuli Paea, 13 Fine Inisi (23 Kafa Vaea 77′), 14 Nikolai Foliaki (22 Latu Akauola 74′), 15 Josiah Unga
CANADA
1 Cali Martinez (17 Cole Keith 31′), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Dewald Kotze 68′), 3 Conor Young (18 Tyler Matchem 62′), 4 Kaden Duguid (19 Callum Botchar 71′), 5 Mason Flesch, 6 Matthew Oworu (20 Sion Parry 60′), 7 Ethan Fryer, 8 Lucas Rumball (capt.), 9 Jason Higgins (21 Brock Gallagher 74′), 10 Peter Nelson, 11 Josiah Morra, 12 Ben LeSage (23 Talon McMullin 60′), 13 Takoda McMullin, 14 Andrew Coe, 15 Cooper Coats (22 Mark Balaski 77′)
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, September 14
Venue: Chichibunomiya Stadium, Tokyo
Kickoff: 16:00 local
Weather: sunny, 86°F (30°C), humidex 95°F (35°C), wind S 17-26mph (27-41 km/h)
| MATCH OFFICIALS |
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistants: Takehito Namekawa (Japan) & Katsuki Furuse (Japan)
TMO: Damon Murphy (Australia)
