TAUMALOLO'S TONGA POWER PAST LOWLY SCOTS
LOOK out Australia, Tonga are ready to steal your World Cup.
Not even William Wallace – nor Peter Wallace or Lachlan Coote – could have saved Scotland from the first-half hammering they copped from Jason Taumalolo and his mates in the Cairns heat yesterday.
Michael Jennings had a hat-trick of tries by half-time as the Tongans charged out to a 38-0 lead.
They clocked off for most of the second half with the result already put to bed, but two late tries ensured the whopping 50-4 win.
There is so much to like about these players, who are pocketing just $30 a day.
From Taumalolo’s barnstorming runs and offloads to Jennings and Tupou’s lethal charges down the left wing to big Konrad Hurrell being a nuisance on the other side of the field, Tonga will have their next two opponents, Samoa and New Zealand, looking over their shoulders.
Coach Kristian Woolf would have been relieved his side made such an early statement. The well-publicised defections of Taumalolo, Manu Ma’u, Sio Siua Taukeiaho and David Fusitua, as well as Andrew Fifita from Australia, meant expectations were going to be higher for the tiny Pacific island.
They could not have asked for a better start when Jennings crossed inside three minutes.