Report courtesy of Shayne Hayne
Tonga produced an outstanding second-half comeback to defeat the Cook Islands 36–24 in a highly entertaining Women’s International at St Marys Stadium.
Cook Islands controlled much of the opening half and established a 20–4 lead, with Tonga errors contributing to two long-range Cook Islands tries, with Tonga responding late in the half to reduce the margin to 20–10 at the break.
A dominant opening 20 minutes of the second half, with strong carries, repeat pressure and field position allowed Tonga to turn a 10-point half-time deficit into a 24–20 lead.
Cook Islands fought back to level the scores at 24-all, but Tonga finished the match strongly, scoring two further converted tries to secure a 36–24 victory.
“It was such a tough game, the Cook Islands game out firing, we were on the back foot in the first half, but we stuck to our processes and got the win” said Tonga Captain, Martha Mataele.
“Our leaders stood up, our rookies stood up in the critical times and our middles really owned the field once we got into the rhythm. Even though we got the win, we have a long way to go, we’ll be aiming to be more professional with each camp.”
Cook Islands opened the scoring after just two minutes when Tonga dropped the ball while attacking the Cook Islands goal line. Ava Glassie collected the loose ball and raced approximately 80 metres untouched toscore, with Tyler Birch converting.
Tonga built pressure, receiving penalties in the 6th minute for a slow play-the-ball and in the 10th minute for a two-on-one strip However, another Tonga attacking opportunity resulted in a long-range Cook Islands try in the 13th minute.
Tonga shifted the ball on the last tackle near the Cook Islands line before Birch intercepted and passed to Glassie, who ran approximately 70 metres to score her second try. The conversion was unsuccessful.
Cook Islands struck again in the 19th minute. Lydia Turua-Quedley put up a bomb on tackle five which was deflected by Tonga approximately 40 metres from their line, with Anastasia Sekene collecting the loose ball and running approximately 30 metres to score. Birch converted to make it 16–0.
Both teams were making good metres through strong carries, but Tonga's errors were proving costly, with two of the opening three Cook Islands tries coming from long-range opportunities following Tonga turnovers.
Tonga continued to work their way back into the contest and forced a Cook Islands goal-line dropout in the 25th minute. Another attacking set followed after Tonga regained possession from a grubber kick.
The sustained pressure eventually told in the 30th minute when China Polata barged over from close range following back-to-back attacking sets. The conversion was unsuccessful, reducing the margin to 16–4.
Cook Islands responded in the 34th minute. Turua-Quedley shifted the ball wide with a long pass to Sekene, who crossed for her second try. The conversion was unsuccessful and Cook Islands advantage was restored.
Tonga produced a strong finish to the half. After a powerful set carried them approximately 90 metres downfield, they continued to apply pressure and right on half-time, Ace Pollock placed a grubber kick into the Cook Islands defence. The ball rebounded off a Cook Islands player and into the arms of Fane Finau, who ran through to score. Leilani Kavapulu converted, reducing the deficit to 20–10 at the break.
Tonga came out after half-time with considerably more energy and immediately took control of the match. Three minutes into the half, Eta Sikahele finished a strong set with a powerful carry from approximately 10 metres out to score. Kavapulu converted, reducing the Cook Islands lead to just four points.
In the 46th minute, Cook Islands #1 Pearl Tuitama was penalised for a possible hip-drop tackle and was placed on report. Cook Islands were beginning to make errors coming out of their own end, while Tonga's strong running was consistently generating metres and field position.
In the 49th minute, Finau produced a quality offload for Simina Lokotui, who scored out wide. The conversion was unsuccessful and the scores were level at 20-all.
Tonga continued to dominate possession and territory. A Cook Islands forward pass from dummy half in the 52nd minute again handed Tonga possession in good field position. A facial infringement against Cook Islands in the 13th minute resulted in another Tonga penalty only 10 metres from the line. Rather than taking the penalty goal and the lead, Tonga elected to tap and maintain pressure on the Cook Islands defence. Tonga were held up over the line twice during the ensuing set.
The pressure eventually resulted in points when Polata crossed for her second try in the 54th minute, powering through beside the play-the-ball on tackle five. After being forced to defend for much of the opening 15 minutes of the half, fatigue was beginning to show in the Cook Islands defensive line. The conversion was unsuccessful and Tonga led for the first time, 24–20.
Tonga continued to dominate, travelling the length of the field from the restart before again being held up over the goal line on the last tackle. Cook Islands finally received some relief through consecutive penalties in the 58th and 59th minutes and capitalised in the 21st minute when Maruia Willie scored beside the uprights. Birch missed the conversion and the scores were locked at 24-all heading into the final quarter.
Cook Islands then received two further penalties immediately after the restart and attacked the Tonga line, but were unable to convert the field position into points.
The decisive moment came in the 65th minute. Following a Cook Islands handover close to the Tonga line, Martha Mataele made a powerful break 5m out from her own goal line on tackle one, running approximately 70 metres before offloading to Namee Gesa, who completed an outstanding long-range try. Vasalina Feleti converted to put Tonga back in front 30–24.
Cook Islands attempted to respond but further errors continued to hurt their field position. A kick out on the full and another lost ball gave Tonga further opportunities inside the Cook Islands half.
In the 73rd minute, Kalosipani Hopoate powered through to score under the posts. Feleti converted and Tonga extended their advantage to 36–24.
A head clash stopped play in the 76th minute for an HIA before Cook Islands mounted one final attacking opportunity. Their last meaningful attack ended with a forward pass while shifting the ball towards the corner.
“Our girls were wonderful and dug deep throughout the game” added Cook Islands head coach Shar Atai. “They got through a lot of defence in the second half, but I am proud of them. We had a lot of players on debut and they did themselves proud. We’re looking forward to the Pacific Championships this year and this game gave us a chance to look at some of these younger players the experience ahead of that. We’ve been thinking about how we keep the squad connected and pushing on next year.”
