Tonga facing uphill battle

Following their defeat in the opening match of the 2011 World Cup campaign, Tonga now know exactly what they have to do if they want to qualify for the knock-out stages of the completion: namely, beat all the other sides in their group. Having played the toughest fixture of their Pool A opponents – and arguably the toughest opponents that any side will face this autumn given the strong home support following a rousing opening ceremony – they are now likely to be competing with France, Canada and Japan for that second qualifying spot.

It was always going to be tough for Tonga given the circumstances in which they found themselves on Friday: a 60,000 capacity crowd at Eden Park filled in the main by All Black fans and up against the favourites for the tournament. However, their second half performance will have given them a fair amount to be positive about despite the eventual 41-10 score-line. Those looking at the Rugby World Cup betting odds may have expected a bigger margin of defeat.

Trailing 29-3 at the interval, only the most fanatical of Tongan supporters would have envisaged anything other than complete annihilation, but in restricting the All Blacks to just twelve points between that point and the end of the match – and by adding seven of their own through a try by Alisona Taumalolo – they will have restored some national pride and will now harbour a great deal of hope going into their remaining group matches.

England Need Ewe



It would now appear that Tonga will need victories over both Japan and Canada – and depending on the result between France and New Zealand, possibly a victory over Marc Lievremont's side as well if they are to make it through to the quarter-final stage of the competition. The Rugby World Cup betting shows just how unlikely this is to happen.

But the psychological boost of having got that game out of the way might just play into the Tongans' hands and give them the edge over the other sides they have left to play. They have faced the best that this world has to offer, and have come through it. Okay, so they didn't win, but in the second half they had their moments – and if they can do it against Graham Henry's men, they must believe that they can do it against anyone.