Canada trounce Tonga by 25-20 in close contest: Rugby World Cup news
Canada has claimed an early victory in the ongoing Rugby World Cup 2011 while beating Tonga by a slight margin of 25-20 in Whangarei, on September 14. Canada scored three tries in their first show of the ongoing world showpiece and started off the journey
in a positive way. James Pritchard displayed a Man of the Match performance for his side and contributed 10 individual points in Canada’s victory.
Canada decided to go with avseasoned side and applied all the best available options to start their Rugby World Cup journey. The presence of Jamie Cudmore and Ed Fairhurst boosted the courage of other players to make a tidy effort against the meagre side
of Tonga.
Tonga made a few notable changes in its forward and back lines after facing a stunning defeat by the host All Blacks on the inaugural day of the global event. Kurt Morath was recalled to the number 15 position, whereas Sona Taumalolo was deployed at the
loosehead postion.
Canada was looking more comfortable than the Tongan side as they had a psychological advantage over the pacific nation side. Canada and Tonga have met five times before this match and Canada has managed to carry the day on three occasions.
Jebb Sinclair put his Canadian side on the score board early with a nicely executed try in the 12th minute of the match and James Pritchard nailed his try with an equally good conversion shot in the next minute. The Tongan side looked off colour
in the whole first-half and only managed a try and conversion in the dying moments of the first part of the game. Siale Piutau was the man to open a late account for his side with a try and Morath scored a conversion goal.
Canada led the match with a slight margin of 10-7 at the end of the first-half and let the doors open for Tonga to comeback into the match. However, Tonga failed to respond in time and missed a number of opportunities to enhance their total. On the other
hand, Canada managed to steal two more tries in the second-half with the help of Aaron Carpenter and Phil Mackenzie. Pritchard scored 10 individual points to clinch the first victory for Canada in the tournament.
Tonga has now claimed a second successive defeat in the Rugby World Cup 2011 by 20-25 with yet another disappointing performance.
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