Scotland kept their dreams of making the quarterfinals in Pool B alive through a bonus-point 45-17 victory against Tonga in their matchup in Nice on Sunday.
The victory may not have come without a price, though, as Tongan wing Afusipa Taumoepeau, who tackled Jamie Ritchie in the first half, struck Ritchie in the head. It may have been fortunate that Taumoepeau’s card remained yellow.
In addition to George Turner, Rory Darge, George Horne, Tony Blair Kinghorn, and Darcy Graham, flankers Duhan van der Merwe and Kyle Steyn all scored tries as Scotland took advantage of the space created by some shoddy Tonga defense.
The Pacific Islanders delivered powerful tackle blows, but they also occasionally displayed a cunning approach and scored tries via Solomone Kata and massive prop Ben Tameifuna.
the eighth With three minutes left in the game, Vaea Fifita became the 2nd Tongan player to be issued a double yellow card for a violent tackle on Finn Russell. The penalty was later changed to a dismissal.
Scotland easily defeated Tonga at the Stade de Nice to earn the crucial bonus point victory they needed to begin their World Cup defense and maintain their chances of making it to the knockout round. Following losing their first match to the South Africans and then witnessing Ireland overcome the Boks on Saturday, Gregor Townsend’s team was under pressure.
The Scots defeated Tonga 45-17, with seven different players scoring tries, as they maintained their calm and displayed their offensive prowess to establish themselves in the top-heavy group B.
Scotland demonstrated their offensive prowess to establish themselves in the heavy on the top pool B.
That nearly concludes our coverage of Scotland’s victory over Tonga, but tonight’s rugby schedule includes a crucial Pool C match between Welsh and Australia in Lyon. The Wallabies need to win after losing to Fiji this past weekend, but Eddie Jones’s future is already in the news following reports earlier in the day that the team’s head coach had exploratory chats about a potential return to Japan.