Tonga has created a history after beating Fiji for the first time in the IRB 7s series.
Tonga beat Fiji 17-14 in a hard fought battle in the second pool match earlier this afternoon.
Tonga punished Fiji late in the first half and laps of concentration and missed tackles allowed Tonga to take the lead against Fiji at half time.
Coach, Etuate Waqa opted for Dan Rawaqa at play-maker and he paid a heavy price for his choice when two of Fiji’s kick offs resulted in Tonga’s try after it did not reach the ten metre line.
Fiji now needs to beat Wales at any cost in the last pool match to progress through to the Cup quarters.
Our sister station, Viti FM talk-back guest, former Wallaby and Fiji’s most successful coach in the World Cup, Ilivasi Tabua said Fiji did not have enough gas in the tank.
Tabua added that the last pool game against Wales is a final to Fiji and the players have to play like it is their last game of this tournament.
Fiji committed a lot of errors in attack and lost a number of scoring opportunities.
Tonga had a lot of surprises and came up with a late try in the second half as Fiji looked like a team without a game plan.
Tonga led 10-7 at half time.
Fiji continued with the sloppy play in the second half and committed silly mistakes.
Fiji’s two tries were scored by Captain, Setefano Cakau and Emosi Vucago.
Meanwhile, Fiji defeated Argentina 31-nil in its first pool match earlier today.
In the other matches so far Wales beat Argentina 19-7, South Africa thrashed Cook Islands 43-nil.
Kenya beat Australia 35-10 while Canada beat France 19-14.
South Africa beat USA 21-nil, England beat Cook Islands 27-12 and Tonga and Wales drew 14-all.
New Zealand struggled to beat Scotland 29-7 in its first match, Samoa beat Japan 29-14 and England beat USA 29-nil.
Fiji will take on Wales at 8.12pm in its last pool match and Fiji needs a win in this match. If Fiji wins against Wales, it will either play South Africa or England in the Cup quarters.
Story by: Vijay Narayan & Dhanjay Deo
Tonga creates history beating Fiji
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