Patrick Pellegrini scored a hat-trick as Tonga claimed their best Pacific Nations Cup finish since 2018 with a 35-24 win over Canada in the third-place play-off at America First Field in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Two well-worked first-half tries ultimately gave the ‘Ikale Tahi a winning platform in an enthralling match, as they played to their strengths, dominating Canada up front and at the breakdown from the first whistle.
It was a surprise it took them so long to break the deadlock as they piled on the pressure in the early exchanges. It wasn’t until the 11th minute, however, that Tupou Afungia came up with the ball after an unstoppable lineout maul carried him over the line.
Canada, otherwise, defended well, and held the Pacific Islanders at bay for 20 more minutes before player-of-the-match Pellegrini extended their lead, his arcing run too much for the Canucks’ stretched defence following another scrum dominated by his pack.
It had been one-way traffic at America First Field, but proud Canada found a response late in the opening half, after Tonga’s front row were penalised at a scrum. A kick to touch, and patient phase play got them close to the line. Despite determined 'Ikale Tahi defence, Matt Oworu scored from inches following several phases in the trenches.
The momentum after the break was briefly with Canada, as Tonga’s second-half performance woes threatened to come back to haunt them. The scores were level soon after the break after Brock Gallagher skipped through a lackadaisical Tongan defence five minutes into the second half. Peter Nelson converted.
Tonga hit back, however. Siegfried Fisi’ihoi dived over from short range shortly before the hour to give Tonga the lead again. Canada answered back with a Nelson penalty, but Salesi Piutau released Pellegrini for his second on the other side of the 60-minute mark. In a flash, Tonga were 11 points ahead.
It didn’t last. Spencer Jones’ spinning catch and give allowed Nelson just enough room to score in the corner to reduce the deficit five minutes later. It was a double-blow for Tonga, with Nikolai Foliaki carded for a dangerous tackle.
Canada’s numerical advantage was short-lived. Kyle Steeves saw yellow for a shoulder charge from the restart. Minutes later, Pellegrini beat two Canadian defenders and stretched to dot down for the third time.
A thrilling finale saw Canada hammer away at Tonga’s defensive line in an effort to reduce the deficit. But the Sea Eagles’ tacklers held firm under huge pressure.
Pellegrini, who scored 25 of Tonga’s points, told RugbyPass TV: “It’s a massive step-up from last year, beating Samoa and then finishing third. Our goal was to win it, we came up a bit short, but – man – I’m so proud of the boys, it was such a great effort from them.”
His captain, Tameifuna, agreed: “Rugby is never perfect and we’ve always got something to work on,” he said. “It’s a huge step from last year, and we’ll look to build on that, with the November tour and hopefully go a step further next year in the PNC.”
Disappointed Canada captain Mason Flesch looked to the positives: “We can be proud of where we finished this year compared to last year. But, we were really in that game in the first 40 and we just piggy backed them down the field into our own end and we shot ourselves in the foot.
“The entire PNC is really starting to grow, it’s become a lot more competitive across all the teams – nations like Canada and USA getting to play against Japan, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa who are putting together good squads yearly. The competition’s just getting better.”
