Tonga topple Japan by 31-18 in Rugby World Cup Pool A match - Rugby News
Tonga thumped the Asian champs Japan by a reasonable margin of 31-18 on September 21 in Whangarei. Tonga scored three tries along with the tremendous footwork of Kurt Morath. Morath scored 16 individual points to lead his side to their first victory in Rugby
World Cup 2011.
Both sides made wholesale changes in their ranks. Japan was a little ahead of Tonga in this regard, as John Kirwan their head coach, made 10 changes in his side from the previous clash against France. Meanwhile, Tonga coach, Isitolo Maka, featured eight
changes in his team. Both the sides were well prepared to clinch their first victory in this tournament.
Tonga gave an early shock to the Japanese as Viliami Ma'afu picked up the first try of the match for his team just in the sixth minute of the first-half. Kurt Morath missed the opportunity of scoring the conversion goal as the Japanese made a few desperate
attacks on the Tongan scoring lines and finally got the desired results with a well executed try by Kensuke Hatakeyama in the 13th minute of the match which equalised the score at 5-5.
Tonga did not taken long to take yet another lead over Japan as Tukulua Lokotui tore apart the Asian teams’ defence in the 15th minute. Morath elevated his side with a conversion goal and helped Tonga to a 12-5 lead over Japan. Morath scored a
further two penalty goals for his team before the interval.
Meanwhile, the Japanese struggled to control the flow of the game and finished the first half at 13-18. They grabbed two tries and one penalty goal and kept their hopes alive to make a comeback in the second-half.
Morath started off the second half in a great fashion while adding a three pointer to his teams’ total. The second part of the game belonged to the Tongan side which proved rock solid in the defence lines. Japan could only manage to score one try after the
break and thus handed over the victory to Tonga. Tonga sealed a stunning triumph over the Asian champs Japan by a healthy margin of 31-18.
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