England 14-4 Tonga: Highlights and talking points

England and Tonga collided in the second test of their series today with Tonga needing a win to set up a decider at the home of Leeds Rhinos next week: the newly renamed AMT Headingley.

The fixture was in the birthplace of rugby league at Huddersfield Giants’ John Smith’s Stadium. It followed a win for England last week 22-18 thanks to tries from Toby King, Mikey Lewis and a brace for Tom Johnstone.

This meant that Tonga needed to win today but they came up short 14-4 against Shaun Wane’s side to secure the series.

Highlights:

England struck first with a lovely set pattern play. This came after a similar play on the left which saw Shaun Wane’s side pick up a penalty for a late hit. From the resulting possession the ball was fed out to Harry Newman who teed up Matty Ashton to score the opening try in the corner which was awarded by the video referee.

Tonga thought they were in as the first 40 edged towards the halfway point with Kristian Woolf’s men feeding the ball down the left only for Ashton to come in and make a terrific tackle. As Newman slid across, Tonga took exception to the incident sparking a minor skirmish between the two sides.

The game continued to flow back and forth with Tom Johnstone thinking he was free down England’s left edge but he was pulled back for a knock on. But England would still post the next points via Harry Smith as he notched a penalty after 25 minutes.

England were in firm control of the game and added to their lead after turning away Tonga from their own line via what was the slowest intercept of all time from Chris Hill. But it would prove crucial with England going up the other end of the field and a kick from Mikey Lewis to the corner being grounded by Ashton for his second. This time Smith missed the goal so it remained 12-0.

At the start of the second half, England should have extended their lead when a brilliant kick bounced back for Matty Ashton. The winger offloaded for Elliot Whitehead who chipped over to the corner only for Johnstone to fumble the ball.

However, England did extend their lead a minute later after a Tonga error which allowed Harry Smith to kick a penalty and make it 14-0. Tonga though nearly gave themselves a brilliant chance of fighting back after a break up the middle but more cover defence from England denied them.

A set later and England broke down the right yet again with Matty Ashton kicking inside. Mikey Lewis could have capitalised but was held back leading to a penalty. Again though England would bomb a try with Ashton then dropping Harry Newman’s pass.

The frenetic second half continued with a deflected kick created another break for Tonga. Despite a great cover tackle from Tom Johnstone eventually Tonga scored off the back of a penalty with Tolutua Koula gliding in after a ball over the top grounding just before he went into touch.

England very nearly put the game to bed when a delightful offload set Mikey Lewis away but before he could get to the line he was dragged down. It mattered little as England secured the series with a 14-4 win.

Talking Points:

Rain gets in the way
The weather got in the way of a good test match today with it descending into an error strewn game with limited expansive rugby throughout.

England need a different test
The next World Cup is set to be held in Australia which will be far from the cold, foggy and wet conditions we saw today. Soon England should be going down under and it may come in 2025 with the Ashes.

Ashton shines
On his debut Matty Ashton impressed with a brace of tries. A good look for the future with him, Mikey Lewis and Danny Walker all impressing.