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.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
Batting great Virat Kohli yesterday announced his immediate retirement from Test cricket, just days before India name their squad for a tour to England. Kohli, who scored 9,230 runs in 123 matches at an average of 46.85, posted his decision on Instagram five days after India captain Rohit Sharma called time on his own Test career. Since making his debut in 2011, Kohli struck 30 hundreds and 31 fifties with a highest score of 254 not out, mainly batting at number four in the order. “It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket,” the
RSS