Toa Samoa have defeated Tonga 34-6 in one of rugby leagues most anticipated matches.
Samoa controlled the first half in all aspects of the game and outside of their 4 errors, Samoa were seemingly dominant and showed their intensity early through defence .
There were a lot of big shots being put on by the Samoans including a high tackle by Francis Molo which ruled out Tonga’s Stefano Utoikamanu for the rest of the match after failing his HIA.
Toa Samoa led in possession (56%), run meters (784m), tackle breaks (22) and most importantly on the score board where they led 12-0 at halftime.
First blood was drawn by Izack Tago after an acrobatic dive into the corner on last the last tackle.
Samoa would enter Tonga’s 20m zone twice more but could only come away with two points via a Blaize Talagi penalty kick.
Leading 6-0 after half an hour of footy Samoa would double their lead through the connection of Jarome Luai and Jeremiah Nanai.
Luai put up a pin point kick for rugby league’s greatest kick chaser in Jeremiah Nanai, who put on a Man of the Match performance.
Nanai flew up to the heavens with one hand and came down with the footy to score under the post.
Tonga came out of the halftime break with a lot more intent and energy than Samoa.
Samoa defended bravely and weathered the Tongan second half energy burst.
The men in blue were rewarded for their stellar defence with a second try to Jeremiah Nanai.
On the last Samoa play backyard footy with offloads going right to left to up and down and around. Eventually the ball found the hands of Nanai put grubbed for himself. He beat everyone to ball to score his second.
Tonga found themselves chasing the game 16-0 and desperately needed a try. Instead, Tonga bomb a sure try which came with controversy. Many thought Samoan fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck should have been sent to the bin for a late tackle on Soni Luki.
Luki sliced through the Samoan defence before finding himself 1-on-1 with Tuivasa-Sheck. Luki put a chip kick over Tuivasa-Sheck before colliding with the Samoan fullback.
Despite the collision Isaiah Iongi was all alone on the try line but dropped the ball as he went to ground Luki’s kick.
Tonga appealed that Tuivasa-Sheck took out Luki late after the kick but the bunker (video referee) disagreed with the Tongans claims.
At the hour mark the off field officials suspended the match due to a lightning storm and it saw the match put on hold for 90 minutes, the longest any rugby league match has been suspended.
Coming out of the lightning storm break Samoa just could not be stopped. Samoa continued to dominate and would score three more tries via Murray Taulagi, Payne Haas and Channel Harris-Tavita.
The 34-0 scoreline didn’t discourage the Tongans as they kept throwing all they had to the Samoan defence.
Eventually Tonga found their consolation try when Tolutau Koula proved too strong for Izack Tago when he busted through him to score.
With a 34-6 scoreline Samoa now advance to the Pacific Championship Final in two weeks in Sydney.
Next week’s clash between Tonga and the Kiwi’s will decide who will face Samoa in the final on October 9th.
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