Oceania under 19s FINAL -when 2 Oceania tribes go to war

Tonga and Fiji have had many battles and today goes down as one of the most exhilarating as Tonga held on to tip Fiji by a single point.

It was a match where Tongan coach Isatola Maka said they would take it to Fiji, they did just that and raced out to a 12 nil lead and silverware was were looking theirs. This was the time for Fiji to fly and they did with a killer blow, Tonga was hot on attack and spun the ball looking for a try, up stepped a Fijian winger and we all know what happened next. He gassed them all and scored under the sticks at the other end of the pitch to put the home nation right back in the contest.

Play all of a sudden had a real edge to it and the vocal crowd sensed we they were in for something special & oh they were. These huge men played a fantastic game, wave after wave of attacks were repelled with vicious defence. As soon as one side looked like getting the edge, then the other would come up with a knockout blow to end a fantastic movement.

Tonga managed to rumble down into Fiji world on the field, they didn't get over the try line but did manage a valuable penalty for their efforts. This sent Fiji into a frenzy and they crashed over for a try to hard working open-side flanker, the conversion went wide, but Fiji smelt a comeback in the air & so did the home crowd.

Fiji continued to drive in the forwards and had superior body position to the Tongans and made good yards in these movements. Again when times needed something great the Tonga's stood tall, their tireless defenders kept hitting everything that moved and saved a couple of potential try moments.

In the end Tonga played smart rugby, they went for territory and got a penalty, this was successful and this put them out to 18-12 with 13 mins to go. There was another twist to come and Fiji sprung to life once more and looked so dangerous with the ball in hand. There numbers 7 & 8 played out of their skins as did Fiji's halfback who delivered great ball all day. Tonga held firm for many phases but eventually cracked as a sprinting Fijian burst away from a maul and crashed over in the corner. This made is 18-17 and a chance to kick for the lead. Today was not the Fiji fairytale ending and the attempt went wide.

Tonga played the last few minutes at the right end of the field and miles away from their try line and kicking zone for trouble. Fiji charged again, fired into everything but Tonga was a wall and clung on for a cliff hanger win today by a sole point.

quotes from the 2 captains today
Finau Tupa (Tonga skipper):
"We came here to win and we have done just that. I know it would have been possible without my team mates. We lost to Fiji in the last pool game and we came back in this one, and it's just so great."
 
"We thank the Vatutu villagers for without their vocal support and their taking care of us in their village, a win would not have been possible. I think out of all the teams that played, we had the best group of supporters."
 
Kini Murimurivalu (Fiji skipper):
"It was a good game. We did not start off well, but we eventually got three tries but it wasn't enough in the end. We did all we could, followed the game plans and I am happy with my team mates performance.  They have just been co-operative and I know we would not have come this far if it wasn't for them." I thank the boys for the effort."