Maori penalise errant Tonga
New Zealand Maori took the first step yesterday towards keeping the Pacific Nations Cup in this country with a win over a Tongan side that came to North Harbour Stadium with the intention of remaining disciplined but failed miserably.
Tonga played 20 minutes of the match with only 14 men with both Sione Mone Tu'ipulotu and Epeli Taione spending time on the naughty step for reckless and dangerous tackles that put their side under pressure.
They were cheap shots - the first when Tu'ipulotu tackled Liam Messam late and hard without the ball and then when Taione jumped into a high tackle on Thomas Waldrom - and it gave them little chance of upsetting the Maori and building on their impressive 2007 World Cup when they ran South Africa (30-25) and England (36-20) close.
Tonga had 11 from that side in their squad yesterday and found purchase rumbling it up the channels through their big forwards but, in truth, they never really threatened and they didn't make it into the Maori 22 until the second spell.
"We wanted to control the game," Tonga skipper Nili Latu said. "We knew how good they would be and I said to the boys that if we kept our defence and discipline we would have a good chance of winning the game. But our discipline cost us the game."
This was a tough first-up game for the Maori, who are taking part in the Pacific Nations Cup for the first time after taking over New Zealand's representation from the Junior All Blacks who won the title in 2007.
"We got the result but we looked like a team who had been together for less than a week," coach Donny Stevenson said.
They also looked like a side which struggled to adapt to the old rules again.
If there is a concern for the All Blacks coaches, it is that the Maori are now their second XV and few of those on the park yesterday did little to enhance their chances for a call-up to the top side.
Halfback Piri Weepu was ponderous and inaccurate at times, although he did score a try later in the game, lock Jason Eaton did nothing out of the ordinary and Daniel Braid did nothing at all, not being risked because of a shoulder niggle.
The score was locked at 3-3 after an insipid opening 40 minutes blighted by errors, a distinct lack of combinations and combative Tongan defence. New Zealand Maori had 70 per cent of possession in the first half but it took until the 49th minute for them to open Tonga up.
It came from a Messam break down the left before he lobbed it inside for his co-captain Tamati Ellison to score. It was then that Messam was hit late and hard by Tu'ipulotu.
At 13-9 with 13 minutes to go, the game was there for Tonga to snatch but that was before Taione was sin-binned. The Maori grabbed a second try through Weepu but Hosea Gear did all of the hard work, brushing aside four tacklers before passing infield to Weepu.
New Zealand Maori expect to win the tournament but they face a difficult assignment in Fiji next weekend as well as a final match against Australia A on July 6.
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