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Junior All Blacks stay unbeaten after second-half revival

A second-half revival saw the Junior All Blacks maintain their unbeaten record in the Pacific Nations Cup rugby championship when they beat Tonga 39-13 in Nuku'alofa yesterday.

The Juniors trailed 13-10 at the turn before exploding with 29 unanswered points as the Tongans ran out of steam after the break.

They also took a vital bonus point with their five tries to two victory to remain at the head of the table, while Tonga slipped to their third defeat from as many matches.

It was a vastly improved opening by the Tongans who were previously thrashed by Australia A and then lost narrowly to Japan.

They made most of the play in the first half, with captain and flanker Nili Latu dominating the breakdown, giving them an advantage in the rucks and mauls against a New Zealand Junior pack containing five full All Blacks.

Tonga had first points on the board after 10 minutes when fullback Vanga Lilo stepped around Anthony Tuitavake to score from a set backline move.

Lilo, who scored all of Tonga's points, added a second try from an outstanding piece of individual play when he chipped over the New Zealand backline to regather the ball from the arms of Cory Jane to score.

He then took over the kicking duties after Fangatapu Apikotoa missed both conversions and landed a penalty on the stroke of half-time.

But Tonga lacked the class to hold on against the vastly more experienced New Zealanders.

After the Junior All Blacks were limited in the first spell to a try by lock Ross Filipo and a penalty and conversion by flyhalf Stephen Brett, they moved up a gear to score four more tries in the second half as they took control of the set pieces.

The Juniors took the lead two minutes after the resumption when a break by Casey Laulala led to a try by Derren Witcombe, then when Latu was sin-binned they added further tries by Marty Holah and Tane Tu'ipulotu.

Tuitavake scored the bonus point try with 15 minutes remaining when he scored in the left corner after a 40m run by Scott Hamilton, who also scored in the dying stages.
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