VIBE
In only the second meeting between these sides, Tonga winning previously 20-14 in 1997, they headed to the southernmost venue of the tournament and in front of a capacity crowd of 12,500 locals still missing their Mumm, Tonga again won, their pigs earning the bacon in Devon.
Both teams made plenty of changes from their previous match, with Tonga making ten, including losing their incumbent skipper to injury and a very late sub on the wing, robbing the Exeter fans of seeing one of their “own”. The conditions were warm but windy and when Burger won the toss and elected to run into the wind, the locals were left scratching their heads, the prevailing wisdom being the wind dies down later in the day. Tonga’s kicking and exits proved to be poor, so he may have been onto something. Or not.
The match contained plenty of errors, but was nonetheless entertaining, with the many turnovers leading to plenty of broken field play and much excitement for all involved. Tonga had it in the bag but started to lose their intensity around the hour mark, a function of the bench becoming involved and most likely fatigue, bench use notwithstanding.
In the end, Tonga scored their most points and most tries in RWC, and snagged a bonus point. Namibia were not disgraced, and could easily have snagged two bonus points at the death but for a poor lineout. Their set piece, especially their scrum, let them down and until they remedy that, they will not be able to take their game to the next level.
Unlike their match against the All Blacks, Namibia’s game plan seemed a little blurry:
SCORE
Tonga 35 (Veainu (2), Ram (2), Fosita tries, Lilo 2 conversions, penalty goal, Morath penalty goal)
Namibia 21 (Burger (2), Tromp tries, Kotze 3 conversions)
Half Time: 22-7
Morath’s PG made him the highest point scorer in Tonga’s history. Meanwhile, Namibia had a double Burger, but a deflated Lilo missed more than he kicked, which didn’t float his boat. Fortunately, Tonga were able to Ram home twice, early in each half, which was duly noted by those who count, as he was a deserving Man of the Match.
INCIDENTS OF NOTE
We had some fun with the TMO. Sadly, but correctly, the TMO killed two tries, but the one right on half time by Tonga was a screamer – worth watching. The athleticism was phenomenal, and but for a stray hand….
The other TMO try call was unusual. Play had progressed down field and Namibia had been awarded a penalty within kicking range. The TMO alerted the referee to the possibility of a Namibia try from the previous phases of play. Replays then showed Namibia grounding the ball against the goalpost pad, which on face value was a try. The TMO then went back further and found a Namibia knock-on from the line-out. The net result – a 5m scrum to Tonga on their own line!
FEAST YOUR EYES
…on Will Skelton’s doppelgänger. Tonga’s Fonua came on and was quoted at 145kg, which I suspect is the point at which the scales broke. Played at number 8 – every halfback’s nightmare. Imagine if could lock in the second row with big Willy? Or, more to the point, given the paucity of big mongrel 8s in Australia, can Willy be converted? Food for thought.
…on the team lists. It’s a cunning linguist’s wet dream – Billy Birmingham couldn’t make this stuff up! My personal favourite is Hale T-Pole, the Tongan second rower, who would fit right in as a featured extra on the Dukes of Hazzard.
MATCH OFFICIALS
Glen Jackson let the match flow and played lots of advantage, which given the error rate, made for a high tempo match. He could (and should) have gone to the pocket on a couple of occasions, and most other referees would have done so. Tonga’s replacement prop was correctly TMO’d for a head roll, and even though he wasn’t yellow carded for that, he should have been for the worst hairstyle at the tournament.
SHOULD I BOTHER WATCHING IT?
One of those matches that might be good to save for the upcoming rest days, such as tomorrow. Both teams were playing to win and the coveted third place in the pool, which means automatic entry to RWC 2019. Never dull, and Tony Johnson’s commentary was entertaining, featuring more trivia than an RSL fundraiser.
