Tonga keep the champagne on ice
By Adam Petrie
From Montpellier
MONTPELLIER, 13 September - They may have won only their third match in IRB Rugby World Cup history, but you won't find anyone in the Tonga camp getting over excited.
After defeating the USA 25-15 at Stade de la Mosson, in front of a crowd of 25,000 on Wednesday, the team may have been forgiven for having a few celebrations. Instead, it was just like any other day, according to flanker Viliami Vaki.
"We just hung out, played some pool, some cards," said Vaki. "We can't get too excited. It was just one game. But it was a very important game because if we had lost it would have been very hard for us."
Vaki, who also represented Tonga in RWC 2003 , wasn't about to talk up his solo, match-sealing try either.
"USA players were tired, so it was luck," said a modest Vaki, who eluded four USA tackles to score Tonga's final try. "But when I saw the line no one was going to stop me. I knew I had players near me to offload the ball if I went down, but it was OK."
The people of Tonga were less restrained after the victory. "After the game, I called my family and they were still shouting about it," said Vaki. "My sister said that at the end of the game she could hear the shouting in the next village."
Perfect start
Finau Maka, making his first Test appearance for Tonga, made a perfect start, powering forward and scoring after only one minute and 10 seconds – the quickest try in Tonga's cup history.
"I never thought we'd get to the line," recalled Maka. "But we kept driving and all of a sudden I was at the front of the maul, and I knew no one was in front of me. It was my first Test and my first touch. It was a dream start."
It was almost inevitable that crowd favourite Maka, noticeably worked up before kick-off, would have an early impact.
Remembering what was going through his mind at the start, Maka revealed: "I was thinking about Tonga, that the whole country was behind us, that Tongans all over the world were supporting us, that my family was watching. It fired me up."
Maka, and the rest of the Tonga squad, will be hoping they can get another dream start when they face Pacific Island rivals Samoa in Pool A on Sunday.
RNS ap/md/gs
