Rugby Live

Finished Montpellier

USA 15 - Tonga 25

United States

Tonga

  1. Tonga soar past the Eagles

    Tonga soar past the Eagles

    The tiny South Pacific kingdom of Tonga humbled the United States 25-15 in their opening World Cup Pool A match to effectively end the American's faint chances of making the quarter-finals. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:80'
    • United States
    • Tonga
    • 80' One last burst from the flyer Ngwenya and he's clear! But Tonga cover is back well and somehow they stop him! But USA win penalty and pound Tonga line. They're held up and ref blows for full-time. Terrific 25-15 win for ther Islanders - only their third World Cup victory - while USA fall to their second defeat. Very entertaining match all round!
    • 79' Tonga win their line out and their forwards drive towards the USA line. Can they get fourth try and secure bonus point? Ball is knocked on and its scrum to USA.
    • 78' Penalty against USA, looks for pulling down at the line-out. Good touch from Hola moves Tonga to USA 22m line.
    • 77' Penalty USA for Tonga holding on. Hercus kicks them down to Tonga 22m line. USA must score here to have any chance of a comeback. But Tonga steal the throw and clear their lines - that could be it now for the USA!
    • 75' USA starting to make errors now as they chase the game. Gaps in their defence will open up if they are not careful. Erksine takes neat mark and kicks for touch.
    • 73' Mangan bursts down the right but his pass misses the man and goes straight into touch!
    • 69' Hoa makes it 25-15 with the conversion. Just 10 minutes left and the USA two scores behind. They need to get another score quickly!
    • 68' Well played USA - the Eagles showing typical determination as they look to break from defence. But Tonga steal the ball and move deep into USA half. Viliami Vaki gets the ball and sets off on a superb run - he's still going and the big Islander goes over under the posts! Great running! 23-15.
    • 68' Hercus makes it 18-15!
    • 66' Big scrum here for USA. They need to get more on the scoreboard. Tonga concede penalty, Stanfil takes quick tap and again the ref goes to video referee. Did the flanker get the ball down cleanly? The try has been awarded! 18-13.
    • 66' USA have line-out close to Tonga line, win their throw and again their forwards drive! Defence is good but Tonga knock on and scrum again to USA, 5m from Tonga try line.
    • 65' Viliami Vaki on for Tonga, Maka off.
    • 64' Good effort at switch inside from Hercus but ball goes to ground. The fly-half makes another gliding break but there's no support and when Erskine arrives the cover is back to snuff out the danger - for the time being! Latu defence again outstanding.
    • 61' Try has completely taken wind out of the USA's sails. What have the Eagles got left and can they respond? Another good break from Parker but great tackle from Tonga skipper Latu.
    • 59' Brillant break by Latu splits USA defence wide open, Lilo continues the attack and giant wing Vaka is over in the corner. Completely against the run of play. Great try from planned move! 18-8.
    • 56' USA on the offensive again and two big drives from replacement Moeakiola - what an impact he's making!
    • 54' Nice break from T-Pole but Parker covers him well.
    • 54' Inaki Basauri and Blake Burdett on for the USA.
    • 51' More good driving from USA forwards. Good spell for the USA and Tonga will need to find another wind as they've barely touched the ball in this half. But they've just conceded a penalty for wheeling the scrum, allowing Hercus to kick USA into Tonga's half again.
    • 50' USA break from deep and make some decent ground through Sika, and Parker again to the fore, the mobile lock taking a great pass from Hercus!
    • 46' Scrum is re-set as it breaks up. Big opportunity here for America! And still they keep driving and eventually Leeds' Mike MacDonald goes over. Great effort from Bloomfield, who is just short but MacDonald just squeezes in. 13-8.
    • 45' Again USA win line-out and again their forwards drive at the USA line. They look to have gone over, USA team certainly thinks so as ref Stuart Dickinson goes to the man upstairs. Tough one as cameras showing very little. 5m scrum to the USA!
    • 43' Good take by USA at the lineout and their forwards drive the ball up to the Tonga 22m line. Good play by the USA pack, who slowly make ground before winning a penalty for Tonga driving in from the side of the ruck. USA kick for the corner.
    • 41' Welcome back and Hercus gets the second half started with a long drop kick to the corner. Tonga field the ball and fail to find touch, but Hercus' reply is weak and he allows Taione to burst through the middle!
    • 40' Ref blows for the break and excellent first half from Tonga. 13-3. The USA have forced their way back into the game but they will need to improve their basics in the second half if they are to give themselves chance of victory. The Tongans will come out flying again after the break and the Americans had better be ready for them!!
    • 40' USA line-out not functioning at all well as Lentz keeps missing his jumpers! Another good attacking position wasted!
    • 39' Lovely break from Hercus puts Ngwenya through but superb tackle from Lilo prevents a certain try!! Great effort from the full-back!
    • 38' Hola chips through but Wyles makes great break from defence and great support from Clever, but he runs away from his support.
    • 36' Tonga scrum upsets the USA and forces knock on from Erskine. Put in Tonga, Hola goes for a drop kick but fails to get proper contact on the ball.
    • 34' Lilo fails to hold Wyles clearance from the kick-off and the USA win scrum on the half-way line. Hercus has men over but sends out a loose pass.
    • 31' Big bomb from Hola and Wyles takes it beautifully, sets up Albert Tuipulotu and the USA win a penalty. Hercus needs to get the Americans on the board before half-time and strikes his kick sweetly to cut the Tonga lead to 13-3.
    • 28' Good drive by Parker sets up platform for USA but the Tonga tackling is typically fierce!
    • 25' Tonga force turnover and then win penalty for not releasing. Another chance for Hola and he strikes it superbly to put the Pacific Islanders 13-0 ahead! Tonga weathered a storm from the USA and then stretched their lead.
    • 22' Hola fails to clear and hoofs suicidal kick to USA's Sika, but he fails to take the catch and Tonga let off the hook! Scrum down and Tonga win a penalty for dropping.
    • 19' Nice kick from Hercus mvoes USA into Tonga 22m area. USA starting to get some parity in the game now and a score here would be a major boost! USA nick line-out and again move it wide to Ngwenya, but he's well marshalled by Tonga defence.
    • 15' Tonga concede penalty and Hercus steps up to cut the deficit, but he pushes the ball just wide. He may regret that more miss later in the game!
    • 14' Good drive from USA hooker Lentz sets up good field position and the ball is moved wide to Ngwenya, though good tackle by Hufanga on the American speedster.
    • 12' Hercus kicks penalty to Tonga 22m line. Can the USA finally build an attacking position? No is the answer as they knock on at the line-out! USA need to build a platform but they concede another penalty and Tonga clear the danger. Good drive from Maka again.
    • 10' Nice line-out take from Parker and USA finally getting some ball.
    • 7' Great interplay between Fa'aoso and Tonga'uiha. The USA just cannot get into this game. Though they win a penalty and finally get a chance to enter Tonga's half by kicking for touch.
    • 6' USA offisde in midfield and Hola makes it 10-0 to Tonga after just six minutes!
    • 3' And Tonga attack again straight from the kick off as Hufanga sprints down the pitch and puts pressure back on USA. Great break from the Tonga centre!
    • 2' Hola adds the two points to make it 7-0.
    • 1' Tonga get us underway and immediately force a line-out in the USA half. They win their throw and drive towards the USA line and they've scored - what a start. Finau Maka is warded the try! 5-0 Tonga.
    • - It's a warm and sunny afternoon here in Montpellier and we can expect a rough opening from the Tongans!
    • ' Welcome to Eurosport.co.uk's online coverage of USA v Tonga from the Stade de la Mosson in Montpellier. It's the USA's second game, following their decent showing against England, while the tough-tackling Tongans are making their tournament debut.

  • Summary

    United States versus Tonga
    McDonald 48’, Stanfill 66’ Tries Maka 2’, Vaka 59’, Vaki 69’
    Hercus 66’ Conversions Hola 3’, 69’
    Hercus 33’ Penalties Hola 6’, 26’
      Drops  

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Stuart Dickinson

  • United States

    Manager: Peter Thornburn

    On the Field

    • McDonald Try
    • Lentz Substitution Out (49′)
    • Osentowski
    • Parker
    • Mangan
    • Stanfill Try
    • Clever
    • Bloomfield Substitution Out (54′)
    • Erskine
    • Hercus
    • Ngwenya
    • Esikia Substitution Out (61′)
    • Tuipulotu
    • Sika
    • Wyles

    Subs

    • Eloff Substitution In (61′)
    • Petri
    • Malifa
    • Burdette Substitution In (49′)
    • Moekiola Substitution In (54′)
    • Mexted
    • Basauri Substitution In (54′)

    Injured

    None

    Suspended

    None

  • Tonga

    Manager: Quddus Fielea

    On the Field

    • Tongau'uhia Substitution Out (64′)
    • Lutui Substitution Out (76′)
    • Pulu
    • Fa'aoso
    • Hehea
    • T-Pole
    • Latu Substitution Out (65′)
    • Maka Try Substitution Out (64′)
    • Havea Substitution Out (40′)
    • Hola
    • Vaka Try Substitution Out (61′)
    • Taione Substitution Out (71′)
    • Hufanga
    • Tu'ifua
    • Lilo

    Subs

    • Vaki Substitution In (65′) Try
    • Taukafa Substitution In (76′)
    • Tuipulotu Substitution In (40′)
    • Havili Substitution In (61′)
    • Toke Substitution In (64′)
    • Tupou Substitution In (71′)
    • Filipine Substitution In (64′)

    Injured

    None

    Suspended

    None