Kiwi giants toppled, now Roos on notice
TONGA coach Kristian Woolf has put Mal Meninga’s Kangaroos on notice, saying his Jason Taumalolo-inspired squad is capable of winning the World Cup after their famous Kiwi boilover.
The rapidly improving tiertwo minnows are now shaping as Australia’s major threat to World Cup supremacy in the wake of their remarkable 28-22 upset of New Zealand in Hamilton on Saturday night.
The victory has sparked calls for a Pacific Tri-Series, with Kiwi forward Simon Mannering urging authorities to give Tonga more Test exposure against New Zealand and Samoa.
But for now, Woolf is hungry for World Cup glory after watching his Tongan troops dispose of the Kiwi side that has been Australia’s chief threat for the past two decades.
New Zealand’s collapse has them on a disastrous semi-final collision course with Australia – giving Tonga a chance to set up a World Cup final showdown with the Kangaroos.
Australia were far from impressive in their patchy 34-0 defeat of Lebanon on Saturday. Woolf concedes beating the world champs would be the toughest task in Tonga’s league history, but he believes his side has the weapons in NRL stars Taumalolo, Andrew Fifita, Konrad Hurrell and Tui Lolohea.
“I won’t sit here and say no we can’t (win the World Cup),” Woolf said. “We have beaten a tier-one nation (New Zealand).
“Australia is a whole different beast. We have a long way to go before we play them. We have to worry about Lebanon next week. Before I even think about (the World Cup final), we have to worry about how we are going to win next week.
“But we were really tough mentally in that second half (against NZ), we stayed in the grind – we have showed we can beat a tier-one nation.”
veteran Mannering admits a part of him is glad that the likes of Taumalolo, Fifita and David Fusitu’a walked away from New Zealand and Australia to play for Tonga.
“With the allegiance thing, I thought good things could come from it,” he said.
“I always thought how good it would be for our game for the second-tier nations to beat the top-tier nations and unfortunately it was us.
“But if the Pacific nations get to choose their strongest teams, we can create an international game where we don’t have to rely on England or Australia to get tournaments going. We could play Tonga or Samoa in a Tri-Series.
“Tonga would give Australia or England a push. We have to grow the international game and hopefully this is the start.”
I ALWAYS THOUGHT HOW GOOD IT WOULD BE FOR OUR GAME FOR THE SECOND-TIER NATIONS TO BEAT THE TOP-TIER NATIONS AND UNFORTUNATELY IT WAS US.
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