Wales 27 Tonga 20

Wales scraped home 27-20 against ardent Tonga on a rainy evening in Canberra.  The "Sea Eagles" from the South Pacific outscored Wales by three tries to two and ended the match on hectic attack.  In the end, kicking won it for the Welsh.

The kicking was erratic -- more so by Tonga than by Wales.  Stephen Jones missed three in a row for Wales, but they were harder than the three Pierre Hola missed for Tonga.

Already in the first half it looked as if Tonga were about to set up an upset.  Down 11-3 they had a period of determined attack which ended when Pierre Hola grubbered through, Rhys Williams could not hold onto the ball and Hola scored to make it 11-10.

Soon afterwards Hola had a kick from in front but sent it sailing left.  A blow for the men from the Friendly Islands.

Tonga certainly gave as good as they got in the first half as they flung their shoulders into Welsh flesh, but penalties lashed them.  In that first half the penalties flowed 9-3 against them.  Things got better in that regard late in the second half as the Welsh strained for survival.

Stephen Jones scored from the second penalty when the Tongans were ruled off-side when they snagged Gareth Cooper's hand after the Welsh scrum-half had picked up behind a ruck.

Five minutes later Hola levelled the scores when Dafydd Jones doubly deserved a penalty -- slapping the ball as he lay on the ground at a tackle and slapping it into touch.  With his left foot Hola goaled the difficult kick.

Wales attacked with vigour and Ben Hur Kivalu was penalised for not moving off a tackle and Stephen Jones made it 6-3.

The rugby was scrappy on the slippery evening, except for three incisions by the fullbacks -- two by Sila Va'enuku of Tonga and one by Rhys Williams of Wales.

Then, from a scrum Cooper went scuttling away on an unmarked blindside for a try in the corner.  That made it 11-3 after 26 minutes, and Wales looked set fare for comfortable victory.  That is when their troubles started.

Outside centre Sukanaivalu Hufanga had an exciting dash down the Tonga right and footed ahead but the situation was saved for Wales when the wicked ball broke right into touch.  Tom Shanklin came close to scoring just before half-time, but Wales had to be satisfied with a penalty to go into the break leading 14-10.

From the kick-off it became 17-10 as the Tongans knocked the kick-off and then played it in an off-side position.

There was a thrilling moment when big Gareth Llewellyn had a run but sparkling fullback Sila Va'enuku intercepted and raced down the Tongan right.  But as for Hufanga in the first half, the ball did the wicked thing and broke into touch.

Wales nearly got their second try when they sent the ball left from a line-out and Rhys Williams, up from fullback, lunged at the line with Sione Fonua clinging to him with help from lively Sililo Martens.  The Television Match Official examined the evidence several times before deciding on a five-metre scrum.

Wales kept up the attack and when the referee declared advantage, replacement flank Martyn Williams kicked a wobbly drop-goal from close-in -- 20-10.

Then the Tongans scored a marvellous try of effort and cohesion.  Replacement forward Milton Ngauamo won a line-out and the Tongans marched it on and on and on and over the goalline for a try credited to captain Kivalu.  Hola missed again but the score was 20-15 with 16 minutes to play.

Wales extended their lead soon afterwards when Iestyn Harris, who was not meant to be starting in this game, floated a long pass over the heads to Martyn Williams who scored on the right.  Stephen Jones converted -- 27-15 with 13 minutes left.

This was a time of grievous anxiety for the Welsh as Viliami Vaki, athletic lock, broke down the middle and the Tongans flung themselves into the attack till eventually powerful prop Heamani Lavaka plunged over in the corner.  It was 27-20 with two minutes left.

Oh, how the Tongans tried.  But though they appeared filled with nervous agitation the Welsh managed to hang on and heaved a deep sigh of relief when the final whistle went.

Man of the match:  The choice is entirely Tongan.  Scrum-half Sililo Martens, surely the only Welsh-speaking Tongan in the world, was full of effort, skill, strength and determination, but really it cannot but go to Sila Va'enuku, the fullback who was originally chosen on the bench.

Moment of the match:  That massive, marching maul that took the Tongans to Ben Hur Kivalu's try.  Even the halves joined in.  The "Sea Eagles" enjoyed that.

Villain of the match:  None, not even Stanley Afeaki who wobbled a ball towards a Welshman and incurred a talking to for Ipolito Fenukatau who looked nothing like Afeaki!

The Teams:

Wales:  1 Gethin Jenkins, 2 Mefin Davies, 3 Iestyn Thomas, 4 Robert Sidoli, 5 Gareth Llewellyn, 6 Dafydd Jones, 7 Colin Charvis (c), 8 Alix Popham, 9 Gareth Cooper, 10 Stephen Jones, 11 Mark Jones, 12 Iestyn Harris, 13 Mark Taylor, 14 Tom Shanklin, 15 Rhys Williams
Reserves:  Huw Bennett, Adam Jones, Dwayne Peel, Martyn Williams, Chris Wyatt
Unused:  Shane Williams, Garan Evans

Tonga:  1 Heamani Lavaka, 2 Viliami Ma'asi, 3 Kisi Pulu, 4 Usaia Latu, 5 Viliami Vaki, 6 Stanley Afeaki, 7 'Ipolito Fenukitau, 8 Ben Hur Kivalu (c), 9 Sililo Martens, 10 Pierre Hola, 11 Sione Fonua, 12 Sukanaivalu Hufanga, 13 John Payne, 14 Tevita Tu'ifua, 15 Sila Va'enuku
Reserves:  Tonga Lea'aetoa, Milton Ngauamo, Nisifolo Naufahu, Ephraim Taukafa
Unused:  Gus Leger, David Palu, Sateki Tuipulotu

Attendance:  19806
Referee:  Honiss p.

Points Scorers:

Wales
Tries:  Cooper G.J. 1, Williams M.E. 1
Conv:  Jones S. 1
Pen K.:  Jones S. 4

Tonga
Tries:  Hola P. 1, Lavaka H. 1, Kivalu D.B.H. 1
Conv:  Hola P. 1
Pen K.:  Hola P. 1