Two teams coming off solid road wins meet for the 7th time as the Ikale Tahi collide with the Eagles at neutral site Kingsholm Stadium in Gloucester. The Americans pulled off a creditable win against a tough Romanian side to start their tour off on the front foot. Meanwhile Tonga showed improved organization and discipline to pull away from Georgia at their stronghold in Tbilisi. The neutral venue serves as preview for the World Cup, even though the sides are in different pools.
Mana Otai and tour ‘consultant’ Jake White have retained the side that played so well with the exception of one spot as Paea Fa’anunu earns his first start at tighthead, swapping places with Gloucester’s own Sila Puafisi. Two of Kingsholm’s finest do earn the start, hooker Aleki Lutui and fan favorite Sione Kalamafoni, with former clubmate Lua Lokotui locking out the scrum. Uncapped Taranaki prop Sione Lea has been added to the bench, replacing Tasman’s Siua Halanukonuka in the only change to the match day squad.
Scott LaValla returns to captain the Eagles for the first time in place of Todd Clever, who draws bench duty for the first time since his debut in 2003. John Cullen and Greg Peterson form a new-look second row, and Mate Moeakiola gets his first start since the 2011 World Cup with Olive Kilifi sidelined from a knee injury. Concussion has ruled out Adam Siddall for at least a week, and Takudzwa Ngwenya has suffered a recurrence of his visa problems. Shalom Suniula and Tim Maupin come into the side to take their place.
Three new caps find themselves among the replacements. Benjamin Tarr sat for the entire match against Romania, and is this week joined by Angus MacLellan to cover prop. Ealing Trailfinders centre Ronnie McLean comes in for the first time, taking the place of Roland Suniula, who also failed to see match time last week. Thretton Palamo has recovered from an ankle injury and hopes to get a run in the midfield, and Kyle Sumsion will be hoping along with him to actually get some time on the pitch after being stiffed in Bucharest.
The Americans have only beaten the Ikale Tahi on one occasion, back in 1999, and on paper it looks unlikely that they will do so again on Saturday. Tonga have an advantage in pack experience, midfield strike power, and most importantly at the halfbacks, where Kurt Morath is a significantly more capable kicker and field manager than Suniula. Almost to a man the Tongans are simply better players, and it would be a real surprise if the Eagles snuck this one, especially without Siddall to kick the points. This should be a fun game with some entertaining rugby, but expect Tonga to come away with a score similar to last week, winning by around 15 points.
TONGA vs UNITED STATES
Saturday, November 15, 16:45 GMT, Gloucester
Referee: Mike Fraser (NZRU)
Assistants: Andrew McMenemy (SRU) & Lloyd Linton (SRU)
TMO: n/a
