Tonga registered their first win in the Pacific Nations Cup rugby championship when they staged a second half revival to beat Fiji 21-15 at Churchill Park yesterday.
Bolstered by the return of six European-based players, the Tongans had too much experience for Fiji who were blooding seven debutants in a match which rarely produced the running flair expected from island rugby.
Fiji led 15-6 at the break and continued to hold their own in the opening stages of the second half.
But their inability to quell the superior firepower of the Tongan pack saw them fall away as the game wore on, conceding three unanswered tries in the final 20 minutes.
Despite dominating possession and territory Tonga suffered from wayward passing and frequent handling lapses resulting in a steady stream of turnover ball, and a rethink of their tactics at half-time.
"We changed our gameplan in the second half, deciding to run it straight up the middle and play in the forwards more since Fiji's backline was very well structured and I'm glad it worked," said Tongan captain Nili Latu. "It's been a bad couple of weeks for us, so today we had to play with more guts and we are happy."
As Tonga gained momentum, Fiji's game began to fall apart with indecision on attack, frequent penalties -- six in a row at one stage -- and losing 80 percent of their lineouts.
japan v SAMOA
Winger Lome Fa'atau scored the sole try of the match yesterday as Samoa rallied to defeat Japan 13-3 in their Pacific Nations Cup game.
Japan led 3-0 at half-time through an Eiji Ando penalty, but the visitors took control in the second half.
Loki Crichton tied the game 3-3 with a penalty seven minutes after the break, and Fa'atau put the visitors up 8-3 midway through the second half with his try. Crichton converted and added a late penalty to complete the scoring.
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