Two weeks ago, countless Rugby fans downed Ashton’s team at the ongoing tournament, but proving them all wrong they have struck back again and are through to the knock-out stages.
Teams resilience is at last paid off with a 36-20 run over Tonga, that has been cited the best performance so far. Still there’s a need of a marked improvement if they really want to see off Australia in Marseille next week.
In soaring spirits, Tongan team performed its traditional war dance before kickoff, as England fans sang their team’s anthem, ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’.
The ‘Ikale Tahi’s’ gave the defending champions plenty to think about by opening the scoring as England rallied 10-3 down in the early first-half.
Later, part of the game saw the Englishmen regaining their original form as Winger Paul Sackey scored two tries for the second straight match, as Mathew Tait and Andy Farrell added more to it while fly-half Jonny Wilkinson kicked 16 points and is five points short of Gavin Hastings’ World Cup scoring record.
Until the final quarter at the Parc des Princes, England’s lead became insurmountable and Tonga that toppled Pacific rivals Samoa 19-15 and only lost by five points to South Africa last weekend, had their dreams shattered of reaching the quarters for the first time.
Kudos to the England team for avoiding their first exit at the group stage, as defending champions.
Via: BBC
