The Vault: England v Tonga
Ahead of England's Rugby World Cup opener against Tonga on Sunday, we take a look back at their last two meetings.
1999: ENG 101 - 10 TON
England scored 13 tries en route to a 101-10 win over Tonga at Twickenham in their final pool game of the 1999 Rugby World Cup.
Matt Dawson traded early tries with Tevita Tiueti, but it was the boot of fly-half Paul Grayson that edged the hosts into a lead.
The dynamic of the game would change on the 35 minute mark though, with the score at 24-10, Matt Perry was tackled in the air by Isi Tapueluelu and a fracas ensued.
Prop Phil Vickery retaliated with a tackle, whilst his Tongan counterpart Ngalu Taufo'ou dropped Richard Hill with a forearm to the head. Taufo’ou was shown a red card, and Tonga went down to 14 men.
That would prove a turning point; the Pacific Islanders would not score another point in the Test match, as England piled on pressure before half time with two more tries via Dan Luger and Perry.
Second half scores from Will Greenwood (2), Austin Healy (2), Hill, Jeremy Guscott (2), Phil Greening and one more Luger effort sealed a comprehensive victory.
2007: ENG 36 - 20 TON
Eight years later the teams met in the pool stages of another Rugby World Cup - this time at Parc des Princes - and with more on the line, as both entered the match able to qualify for the knockout stages.
Tonga had rallied to wins over USA (25-15) and Samoa (19-15) whilst narrowly losing 30-25 to South Africa in their previous Pool A games, and they struck first against England in Paris.
A Pierre Hola penalty and Sukanaivalu Hufanga try gave them a dream start against the defending champions, but England’s response – two tries in the shape of Paul Sackey – put Brain Ashton’s men back in the ascendancy just before half-time.
Sackey’s first came from a well-weighted Jonny Wilkinson cross-field kick which the then London Wasp caught and grounded just before sliding into the dead ball line. His second came three minutes from the break, collecting a wayward Tongan pass and cantering 70 metres unopposed to touch down.
Second half tries from Matthew Tait and replacement Andy Farrell furthered England’s quarter-final ambitions, rendering Hale T-Pole’s late touch down a consolation. Wilkinson’s 16 points moved him to 222 in World Cups, second on the all-time list.
