Scotland claim maximum against Tonga to stay in Pool B conversation

Scotland claimed a 45-17 bonus-point win over Tonga in Nice on Sunday to keep their Rugby World Cup knockout hopes alive with two games remaining.

The maximum haul puts the Scots on five points ahead of facing Romania before their Pool B campaign ends with a mouth-watering match against Ireland.

Indeed, both Ireland and South Africa will be looking over their shoulders as Scotland are very much still in the conversation to make it into the quarter-finals.

Scotland's seven tries in Nice went the way of George Turner, Duhan van der Merwe, Kyle Steyn, Rory Darge, George Horne, Blair Kinghorn and Darcy Graham.

For Tonga, Solomone Kata and Ben Tameifuna crossed the whitewash as they went down to a second straight pool loss, leaving them stuck on zero points.

Scotland signalled their intent in the second minute when Kinghorn chased down his own kick-through and outpaced the Tongan defence to get there but he knocked the ball on as he tried to slam it down over the line.

They only had to wait a further three minutes to get their first try of the tournament, though, as hooker Turner pushed over following a maul.  Finn Russell converted.

Tonga halted the early Scottish flow when William Havili sent his penalty between the posts in the 10th minute, and midway through the first half the Pacific islanders managed to get themselves in front when Kata ran on to a Salesi Piutau offload and dotted down on the right.  Havili converted.

With the Scots trailing 10-7 more than a quarter of the way into a must-win game, they could have lost their composure, but they soon regained control of proceedings with three tries in the closing 14 minutes of the first half.

Van der Merwe got them back in front in the 26th minute when he finished off a lovely move involving Sione Tuipulotu, Russell and Kinghorn by touching down on the left.  Russell was wide with the conversion attempt.

Steyn ― who scored a record four tries in the Scots' last meeting with Tonga almost two years ago ― then raced in on the right to score on the half hour following a lovely pass from Russell, who subsequently saw his kick come back off the post.

There was a flashpoint in the 33rd minute when Tonga back Afusipa Taumoepeau was sin-binned for a high challenge on Scotland captain Jamie Ritchie, who was forced off with a head injury and replaced by Matt Fagerson.

The Scots ― anticipating that it might be upgraded to a red card on review ― took advantage of their temporary numerical advantage when Darge finished impressively in the last action of the half, with Russell on point with the conversion.

Shortly after Taumoepeau was surprisingly allowed to return to the field in the third minute of the second half, Tonga got back in the game when prop Tameifuna bulldozed his way over on the left, and Havili added the extras.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇹🇴 Beast mode activated by Duhan van der Merwe. #SCOvTGA pic.twitter.com/S5VxaoaBpF

― Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) September 24, 2023

With the deficit down to just seven points, Scotland reasserted themselves when substitute Horne touched down in the 53rd minute after brilliant play by Van der Merwe to set him up.  Russell converted.

Kinghorn and replacement Graham put the seal on a much-needed victory with late tries ― both converted by Russell ― either side of a yellow card for Tonga's Vaea Fifita.

The teams

Scotland:  15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Jamie Ritchie (c), 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Rory Sutherland
Replacements:  16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 WP Nel, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Matt Fagerson, 21 George Horne, 22 Huw Jones, 23 Darcy Graham

Tonga:  15 Charles Piutau, 14 Solomone Kata, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Pita Ahki, 11 Afusipa Taumoepeau, 10 William Havili, 9 Augustine Pulu, 8 Vaea Fifita, 7 Sione Talitui, 6 Tanginoa Halaifonua, 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Halaleva Fifita, 3 Ben Tameifuna (c), 2 Paula Ngauamo, 1 Siegfried Fisi'ihoi
Replacements:  16 Sam Moli, 17 Tau Koloamatangi, 18 Sosefo Apikotoa, 19 Adam Coleman, 20 Semisi Paea, 21 Sione Vailanu, 22 Sonatane Takulua, 23 Patrick Pellegrini

Referee:  Karl Dickson (England)
Assistant Referees:  Nika Amashukeli (Georgia), Craig Evans (Wales)
TMO:  Ben Whitehouse (Wales)