Tonga has again proved their strength in International Rugby League with a dominating 14-6 victory over a battered and bruised Great Britain side.
Tesi Nui was outstanding for Tonga on debut, looking as cool as you like at fullback. The Tongan forward pack meanwhile tore through the British forwards, leading Great Britain on the back foot for the majority of the match.
Jason Taumalolo was once again at his outstanding best, carrying defenders as he made big meters and making some fantastic defensive reads throughout the entire game that shut down Great Britain time and time again.
While the Lions forwards did their best it was clear they were completely outmatched. This did nothing for their backs who had to work with poor field position for most of the match, with only Gareth Widdop looking dangerous at all while the likes of Lachlan Coote and Jackson Hastings looked out of their depth and Ryan Hall and Jermaine McGillvary don’t look anywhere near test standard and quite honestly look like park footballers at this point in their careers.
Great Britain didn’t really offer much in attack at all. Their one try in the match came from John Bateman who scored in a strong solo effort down Michael Jennings side of the field after Jennings has suffered a head knock. Before that occurred, Great Britain targeted the right side of the field on numerous occasions and didn’t look close to scoring.
That is starting to become a reoccurring theme for Great Britain and English teams.
As pointed out by Rugby League historian Andrew Ferguson, it has been a long time between drinks for the Great Britain team in Hamilton, New Zealand.
The last time Great Britain won a game at any level in Hamilton:
August 1, 1928 – defeated South Auckland 31-5
That's 33,322 days#GBLions
— Andrew Ferguson (@AndrewRLP) October 26, 2019
It will be interesting to see how Great Britain fares in their test series against New Zealand starting next week. It is known that they are likely to be without Luke Thompson who suffered a rib injury and Oliver Gildart who looks to have suffered a shoulder injury.
It could prove to be a very long tour for the Lions in 2019.
It's been 4358 days Great Britain last scored a try.#GBLions
— Andrew Ferguson (@AndrewRLP) October 26, 2019
