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Subscribe to RSS FeedNo excuses for Eagles
Pierre Hola: Pleased
The United States refused to use their heroics against England at the weekend as an excuse for their failure to beat Tonga in their World Cup Pool A clash in Montpellier on Wednesday.
The Americans were seen as favourites following their brave performance against the defending World Cup champions, England, four days earlier. However, they looked to be suffering from the after-effects of that clash as they got off to the worst possible start.
They conceded a try after just 72 seconds and found themselves trailing 13-0 after 26 minutes, before going on to enjoy long periods of domination with little reward in a 25-15 defeat.
"People might think our performance against England had an effect, but we won't be using that excuse," insisted flanker Louis Stanfill, one of their two try-scorers.
"That's an easy excuse to use."
Former Tonga captain Viliame Vaki came off the bench to score the clinching try and get his side's campaign off to a dream start.
The veteran forward pounced for a try 11 minutes from the end to finally kill off the brave efforts of the Eagles and claim Tonga's third victory in World Cup history, their first for eight years.
Tonga fly-half, Pierre Hola, who kicked four goals from five attempts, admitted his side had been helped in their preparations by studying their opponents in their 28-10 defeat by England.
"We prepared well," he said.
"We watched USA play England and that helped us to plan our strategy and we got a good start at the beginning. We were on a roll."
Tonga's inspirational captain Nili Latu, who was passed fit just before kick-off after missing training this week with a hamstring injury, said that patience was the key.
"I kept reminding the boys what our game plan was, because we weren't sticking to it at that point.
"I'm very pleased. It's not often you get the chance to play in a World Cup and it's a good feeling to get a victory. Winning today is a confident step up for us."
