Tonga put one foot in the Rugby League World Cup quarter-finals but were made to work hard by a gutsy Wales side.
Wales initially rattled Tonga at St Helens and led for most of the first half thanks to Kyle Evans’ fine try.
But after Daniel Tupou crossed to get Tonga going, two quick tries just before half-time from David Fifita and Keaon Koloamatangi put them in charge.
Tonga clicked into gear after the break, with Tupou completing his hat-trick around a Tesi Niu try. A win over Cook Islands in their final pool game next week will confirm Tonga as Group D winners and a quarter-final game against the Group A runners up - likely to be either Samoa or France, with hosts England set to top the group if they win their final match against bottom side Greece.
Wales’ hopes, meanwhile, are hanging by a thread having already lost their opener to Cook Islands five days ago as they continue to search for a first win at a World Cup since 2000.
To have any chance of remaining in this tournament, John Kear’s side need Papua New Guinea to beat Cook Islands on Tuesday night and then manage to pull off a shock result against PNG in their final group encounter in Doncaster next Monday.
Kear freshened up his side by bringing Gavin Bennion, Kyle Evans, James Olds and Luke Thomas into his 19-man match squad in place of Will Evans, Rhodri Lloyd, Mike Butt and the injured Ben Evans - out of the competition with a throat injury.
Tonga welcomed back Konrad Hurrell but were again without the injured Will Hopoate and captain Jason Taumalolo, who is suspended until the final group game. Kristian Woolf’s side were again playing at the Totally Wicked Stadium, his home-from-home since 2020 where he coached St Helens to the club’s first Challenge Cup in 13 years plus three successive Grand Final victories.
Wales entered Woolf’s den as huge underdogs, with their largely semi-professional pool of players fronting up to a Mate Ma’a Tonga outfit packed full of NRL and Super League talent.
After Tonga laid down a stirring Sipi Tau, Kasey Badger - making history by becoming the first woman to referee a men’s Rugby League World Cup game — blew her whistle to begin what was a first meeting between the two nations at any level of rugby league.
Wales started sloppily, putting themselves under pressure with poor handling and poor discipline, but survived and then clicked to cross the tryline first — only for Dalton Grant to be held up in the tackle by Talatau Amone and Niu.
But there was no denying Kear’s side when wing Evans put in a crunching tackle to knock the ball free and then scamper away to the line from Josh Ralph’s well-timed pass, with Matty Fozard converting.
Evans is a recent convert to league from union, with just three games for Wakefield Trinity under his belt, but underlined his potential in the 13-man code with a high-class performance against high-class opposition.
Tonga, stung, soon replied to put Tupou over on the left with a swift passage of passes from a scrum, but Tuimoala Lolohea missed the tricky kick at goal.
