Try time: Sukanaivalu Hufanga
Tonga produced the biggest upset of the 2011 World Cup on Saturday by outplaying France to win 19-14 in Wellington.
A losing bonus point - captured in the last minute - means France will progress to the quarter-finals nevertheless, but based on this performance they will go no further.
Directionless on attack, disorganised on defence, outmuscled at the breakdown, les Bleus never looked like winning against a charged-up Tongan side.
Take nothing away from the Islanders, who thoroughly deserved their victory which will go down as one of the biggest upsets in Rugby World Cup history.
Tonga led 13-7 at half-time as the French failed to assert themselves up front.
As the famous saying goes, you need to earn the right to go wide and France seemed to have forgotten that it usually helps to go forward before you go wide.
Not that they had much decent ball to work with anyway as Tonga dominated in terms of territory. When France did get hold of the ball, some pitiful decision making left their fans pulling their hair out.
Dimitri Yachvili gave les Bleus a 6-3 lead after 25 minutes in a brutal opening period but Tonga would be first to cross the whitewash.
Fly-half Kurt Morath's pin-point accurate cross-field kick was picked up by wing Sukanaivalu Hufanga, who shrugged off a poor tackle from Julien Bonnaire to crash over and give the underdogs an unexpected lead.
Morath added a penalty to his conversion and the French were stunned to trail by seven points.
Hufanga threw the French a lifeline just before the half-time break by earning himself a yellow card for a lifting tackle on Vincent Clerc, but you would never have guessed Tonga were down a man as they had the better of the opening exchanges in the second period.
France were unable to take advantage of the sin binning and could hardly even get into Tongan territory in Hufanga's absence.
Yachvili was able to reduce the gap when Alisona Taumalolo was penalised for a shoulder charge but the third quarter belonged almost entirely to Tonga.
Marc Lièvremont had all but emptied his bench by the hour mark, but it didn't help as Morath extended the Tongan's lead from the kicking tee.
When Fabrice Estebanez saw yellow for tip tackle with 15 minutes to play, the writing was on the wall and Morath gave Tonga a ten-point advantage.
A try in the corner for Clerc will be no consolation for the French, who have some serious soul searching to do.
Man of the match: Immense at the breakdown, flank Sione Kalamafoni smashed and bashed his team into the history books.
Moment of the match: From the moment that Tonga moved ahead after Sukanaivalu Hufanga's try, the upset looked on the cards. France never recovered.
Villain of the match: No nasty stuff on the pitch...we can't guarantee the same at the press conference afterwards.
The scorers:
For France:
Try: Clerc
Pens: Yachvili 3
For Tonga:
Tries: Hufanga
Con: Morath
Pens: Morath 4
Yellow cards: Hufanga (Tonga - 39th min - lifting tackle); Estebanez (France - 65th min - lifting tackle)
France: 15 Maxime Médard, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 Morgan Parra, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Raphael Lakafia, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Pascal Pape, 3 Luc Ducalcon, 2 William Servat, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Fabien Barcella, 18 Julien Pierre, 19 Imanol Harinordoquy, 20 Francois Trinh-Duc, 21 Fabrice Estebanez, 22 Cédric Heymans.
Tonga: 15 Vungakoto Lilo, 14 Viliame Iongi, 13 Siale Piutau, 12 Andrew Ma'ilei, 11 Sukanaivalu Hufanga, 10 Kurt Morath, 9 Taniela Moa, 8 Viliami Ma'afu, 7 Finau Maka (captain), 6 Sione Kalamafoni, 5 Paino Hehea, 4 Tukulua Lokotui, 3 Kisi Pulu, 2 Aleki Lutui, 1 Soane Tonga'uiha.
Replacements: 16 Ephraim Taukafa, 17 Alisona Taumalolo, 18 Halani Aulika, 19 Joseph Tuineau, 20 Samiu Vahafolau, 21 Samisoni Fisilau, 22 Alipate Fatafehi
Venue: Regional Stadium, Wellington
Referee: Steve Walsh
Comments
rugbyheim says...
@ Manu56 lol yes you are right!! My french writing skills are terrible. A consequence of leaving France at a young age to move to Australia. At least I gave it everything - which is better than what the French team did this afternoon.
Posted 09:06 01st October 2011
ruggaluva says...
The whole world will be going on about how good Tonga and Samoa are today.... well for all the credit they deserve for playing with massive spirit they are NOT as good as they seem. France was pitiful as they were against NZ, and SA is prone to hitting the self destruct button too. France has no spirit and SA no brains, you have to say the only team playing to form is NZ the rest of the top nations have been a bit of a rabble. Its NZ's world cup to lose.....
Posted 09:03 01st October 2011
LeftRightOut says...
If only Tonga had beaten Canada... this result would have been an even greater story for them...!
Posted 08:31 01st October 2011
Oceansnz says...
Woohoo! Well done Tonga! You're capable of so much, lets hope this is the start of a great era!
Its great that with all these minnow teams fighting hard, this world cup is rewarded with a famous upset!
Posted 08:25 01st October 2011
mlbp says...
Spirit becomes contagious. The body language of the players said it all. Look at the happy faces of the Tongans as they had to play a defensive scrum against the supposedly invincible French unit. They were ready for the challenge and for them winning was all. It was a pity they did not believe in scoring four tries. With such a dismal performance by the French it was more than a possibility. The French were they opposite. This is a sport in which enthusiasm and motivation comes first. Canada and Japan gave France enough of a scare in some phases of their matches.
I wonder how France can rebuild a team after a performance like this. You never see any other top tier nation in such disarray as France seem to be sometimes. It looks as if they press the self-destruct button and then game over. They seem to lose heart easily when faced with the slightest difficulty because they don¿t have the confidence and then they stop playing their own game plan, if they have any. The management is to blame for this, but some players need to lead from the front. There is no leadership in the team. I could go on like this forever. I am sorry for some of the players who at least show the right attitude, although they make mistakes because they seem to have to compensate for others¿ lack of effort.
Posted 08:25 01st October 2011
rugbyheim says...
La France vous êtes une disgrâce complète!! Vous devriez avoir honte tout de vous!! Rentrer Palison, vous n'avez fait rien le spécial!! Rentrer aussi Mermoz - combien des matériels vous ont fait manque?? Le temps pour durcir Capitaine Dusautoir - vous avez été trop doux sur vos camarades d'équipe!! ML - ceci est ce qu'arrive quand change vos équipes chaque anne! Vous et Bernard Laporte a une chose dans commun - ECHEC!! Pour La XV de France - J'ai honte vous soutenir maintenant, Je suis embarrased porter ce jersey avec le Coq dessus. Ce qu'une perte d'argent!! La seule valeur pour c'est d'utiliser est de polir ma voiture!!
Posted 08:25 01st October 2011
gauca says...
Don't usually like PR write ups but couldn't agree more.
Tonga, Congratulations! unlucky for you you couldn't take all your chances, you could have got the try bonus point if you had. hard luck. Again well done on the win though.
For us. Disgraceful, regardless of the supposed infighting you should play with pride. We showed none. We may have well just sent out Medard and Clerc and Harinordaquy (when on) alone as they alone played well. We came into the tournament with a much vaunted pack but they have truly gone AWOL, leaving our backs next to no chance, always on the back foot. They need to front up, abysmal.
Posted 08:20 01st October 2011
rodofle says...
Let the tongians go into the 1/4, France don't deserve it, they're so awfull ! I'm french and soooo upset, this french team is the worst i've ever seen, no game plan, no guts, no skills, no pace, no leaders, absolutely NOTHING. Just a bunch of losers, crying babies. I feel so ashamed. And I guess the worst is for the next game, I fear we'll be totally trashed by England... Definitely, all is bad in this world cup for us...
Posted 08:20 01st October 2011
mlbp says...
Parra and Yachvili are not to blame for this, they played as well as they know, but perhaps they should not play together as 9 and 10. Parra seems to play better than Trinh-Duc though. France have always had lots of problems to find a suitable fly-half. Beauxis should have been given continuity as a 10 years ago. He¿s not only a kicking fly-half, he knows how to play a tactical game, he can tackle, he reads the game well, he can spread the ball wide¿ Apparently he was unavailable for this RWC but he should have been given continuity in the past.
Winning becomes a habit, and structure is needed to win. Lièvremont has not been able to create that structure in the team. The players do not seem to understand the game plan (if there is any), defensive patterns are nowhere to be seen, the players stop commiting themselves to the physicality needed as a result of all that. Then there is also the typical French habit of thinking that the minimum cost pays off sometimes, and the players knew they could progress to the QF without winning, but doing that they have disgraced themselves, their national jersey, their fans, rugby in itself. This is a proud sport. South Africa showed all that pride against a fierce Samoan side, they gave their all and they never shunned the physical contest. France did. They were stunned by Tonga immediately and stopped believing.
The result of all this is that the French players do not have the mental strength and toughness to meet the challenges in front of them. I don¿t think they have what is needed to go to the SF. It is a shame, as we have seen nothing of a team with such potential.
Posted 08:13 01st October 2011
mlbp says...
This is my first contribution to this webpage during this World Cup. I believe we have witnessed one of the most disgraceful moments in French rugby history. A number of players showed no spirit and there was no structure in the way the match was played by France. I still wonder about their tactics, apparently they did not know whether to meet the Tongans up front, run the ball wide, kick the ball or play multiphase pick and go¿s. It was as if some players lost faith and dropped their guard as they encountered a fierce team in front of them. I am really disappointed in this French team. The management is to blame but also some players have not come up to the challenge. I doubt Dusautoir¿s leadership, as he doesn¿t even lead from the front, and his tactical decisions seem to be wrong most of the times. Experienced players like Nallet, Servat and Bonnaire had a dismal match. Others played their hearts out. Hats off to Clerc (he always gives his all and never stops believing) and Medard (in spite of his kicking out of hand). Others don¿t seem to have what it is needed to play for France (Ducalcon is less than average in broken play and scrummaging he is no match for Poux or Mas, but Marconnet and Domingo were unavailable for the RWC). Palisson may need some more time after his injury, Mermoz would need more continuity but I doubt his defensive abilities, Rougerie sometimes plays like a demon, other days he has a shocker¿
Posted 08:13 01st October 2011
hayj05 says...
Wow! what an upset. First time one of the big 5 have been beaten by a P.I. nation at a WC.
Number of Registered Rugby players in France = 313,000
Entire Tongan population = 104,000
Posted 08:12 01st October 2011
Zygote says...
Well done Tonga - most deserved win. There is no hiding from the truth: The French were totally rudderless and disjointed. How can it be anybody's fault if not Lievremont's? A number 9 at fly half (never played the position at international level before last week), two centres who hardly know each other, and never played with Parra at Nº10: Predictable shambles with zero attacking potential, and a defense resembling a fine gruyere. At the same time, the French forwards were taking their fortnightly rest, shame it coincided with their Tonga match !
Posted 08:11 01st October 2011
Jediboy says...
Fantastic stuff from Tonga. I'd love to see them on the knockout stages. Never inc they were brilliant today.
Well done.
France - shocking. Decision making and play just shocking.
Posted 08:10 01st October 2011
rugbyheim says...
What a complete utter disgrace you are France!!!! You should all be ashamed of yourselves!!! Go home Palison, you did nothing special. Go home too Mermoz - how many tackles did you miss?? Time to harden up Captain Dusautoir - you've been too soft on your team mates!! ML - this is what happens when you chop and change your teams every year. You and Bernard Laporte have one thing in common - EPIC FAILURE!!XV de France - I am ashamed to be supporting you right now, I am embarrased to be wearing this jersey with the Rooster on it. What a waste of money. The only value it is worth is to use it to polish my car.
Posted 08:09 01st October 2011
shubibiman says...
Oh dear...whether we play against England or Namibia, we will go no further in this World Cup as the French players just don't have the spirit to play winning rugby.
Posted 08:08 01st October 2011
melkdave says...
Well done Tonga a fantastic performance just a pity you couldnt put France away with some more tries .Certinally produced the openings for them and i must admit didnt see their win had Frqnce by 12 lol.As to France they are looking worse and worse .Played as a bunch of individuals today ,no cohesion no real gameplan nothing and they look totally disinterested .Still it being France you just cant write them off .They are so unprdictable and anything could happen in the QF .But not looking good thats for sure
Posted 08:06 01st October 2011