What the Australian press said about England’s win over Tonga

Thanks to a brace of tries from Warrington Wolves star Matty Ashton, top performances from Leeds Rhinos star Harry Newman and Wigan Warriors halfback Harry Smith gave England the win over Tonga securing a Series triumph over Kristian Woolf’s men.

But how did the media down under see the result and England winning the series at the expense of Tonga? Well like last week there was minimal coverage of the game down under.

Only one publication covered the game in full in the shape of the Canberra Times. They highlighted what they felt was a poor display from Tonga in the defeat saying:

“Tonga were far from their best as they succumbed 14-4 to Matty Ashton-inspired England, who wrapped up a triumph in their historic three-match series at Huddersfield’s John Smith’s Stadium.

“Fresh from their opening victory at St Helens, England looked intent on putting the series to bed from the outset on Saturday (Sunday AEDT) and had a two-try lead thanks to a pair of Ashton tries without reply in the first period.

“The Tongans, full of NRL talent, had hoped to be sharper after their opening defeat but actually provided a much less convincing display on a rain-soaked afternoon.”

The only over coverage came from a very informative piece on NRL.com which did give the game considerable focus.

However, the focus of the piece was less on the result of performance but more isolated on Shaun Wane’s outburst at fulltime as he slammed Tonga for their disrespectful comments leading into the game.

They reported: “An international audience was left stunned when Wane labelled comments by Mate Ma’a Tonga in the lead-up to the second Test – won 14-4 by the host nation at John Smiths Stadium – “disgraceful” in a sustained outburst on TV.”

So, once again minimal coverage of England’s win. You would have to ask if this would be the same if England had lost?

From an England perspective, many England fans feel they should soon be taking on the likes of Australia and New Zealand and should be doing so away from home to really test them ahead of the next World Cup.