Thanks for your company on this glorious Sunday for the rugby codes in Australia. The Wallabies beat England at Twickenham this morning and the Kangaroos have done the job on Tonga this arvo in Parramatta. Does that mean footy season is FINALLY OVER?, my daughter asks? Not yet, darlin. The men’s promotion-relegation play-off between New Zealand and the PNG Kumuls is about to kick off. Enjoy!

From all the team here at the Guardian, we wish you a good night and a safe summer. See you next footy season!

Tom Dearden has been named Player of the Match – a worthy winner given how he sliced and diced the Tonga defensive line. With Moses calm beside him, the little Queenslander led Australia to victory with his energy, smart passes, clever darts and excellent support play. Not a bad replacement for the injured Nathan Cleary!

Australia defeat Tonga 20-14 to clinch 2024 Pacific Championship

79th minute: Australia 20-14 Tonga. Tom Trbojevic slices through and gets within 10 metres. Now Australia get a sniff of one more try. Carrigan clears to Dearden and he finds Moses and it lands with big Xavier Coates flying on the outside. He soars and scores! But hang on, in the action of flying up and over the touchline, he’s muffed the grounding and it’s slipped free of his fingers at the last instant. Might be too late for Tonga anyway…

78th minute: Australia 20-14 Tonga. Lindsay Smith is on for Australia and it brings fortune to the Kangaroos immediately as Moses is taken out in the air by Jason Taumalolo. Silly mistake by the veteran. Will it cost his side? No, but Siliva Havili’s forward pass out of dummy half might. It gifts the Kangaroos possession 40 metres out.

TRY! Australia 20-14 Tonga (Katoa, 74”)

74th minute: Australia 20-10 Tonga. Almost a try! Referee Ashley Klein says no but this looks good. And it is good!

72nd minute: Australia 20-10 Tonga. Huge error from Pat Carrigan. The big bearded Bronco had just come back onto the field and he coughed it up in the tackle. Tonga on the attack 20 metres out now. Jason Taumalolo thunders into the line but one of the follow up runs has gone bung as Isaah Yeo forces the ball loose with a crunching captain’s tackle. It earns Yeo a breather and Matt Burton trots on to close this game out.

70th minute: Australia 20-10 Tonga. Australia get a much-needed breather as Lindsay Lindsay Collins and Angus Crichton reel from a head clash. Friendly fire for the Roosters pair and it’s Collins who came off second best. It gets enough air back in the lungs for the Kangaroos to pull of a ripping tackle and for the Kangaroos to swoop on the crumbs.

68th minute: Australia 20-10 Tonga. We have a crowd of 28,728 but they have been of one voice this afternoon. Now the red army have a new reason to cheer. Harry Grant has throw a forward pass on halfway! It sets Tonga for a fresh wave of attack. Haumole Olakau’atu hammers the line followed by Felise Kaufusi as Tonga inch closer and closer.

66th minute: Australia 20-10 Tonga. Another set for Tonga. It was a great kick by Isaiya Katoa, angled for the corner and high enough to sow panic in the Australian ranks. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow won the jump but failed to haul it in cleanly, instead chesting it to Angus Crichton who stood a fraction in fron tof him. Here they come again!

64th minute: Australia 20-10 Tonga. Tolutau Koula sends Harry Grant flying! After looking a little ragged in the early clinches of this second half, Tonga have found another gear. Now they’ve forced an error from Hudson Young and will attack from 30 metres out. Pressure for the Kangaroos

60th minute: Australia 20-10 Tonga. With the wind in their sails and the choir in their ears, Tonga are making their move. Jason Taumalolo leads their charge after that all-important try. There is plenty of time for the visitors here, a full quarter of the game remaining. Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga detects the danger and brings on fresh horses in debutant Lindsay Smith. He’ll need as Crichton gets monstered by four Tongans.

TRY! Australia 20-10 Tonga (Olakau’atu, 58″)

56th minute: Australia 20-4 Tonga. Jason Taumalolo is back on the field and it takes a tenacious Hudson Young to stop him bursting into space. Momentum has swung the way of the visitors now and they have Australia stretched to the left. Lomax has to charge the red line and knock down the ball to stop the overlap.

54th minute: Australia 20-4 Tonga. Tonga are emptying the bench looking for fresh legs and new ideas. They have now used five substitutes whereas Australia have only used two. Tonga look tired and Australia sense it. They go for the jugular, sweeping left where Tom Trbojevic finds Zac Lomax. He kicks infield but it’s too big and races over the dead ball line. The Tongan choir know it’s now or never. They raise their voices to inspire their side. What a glorious sound that is.

50th minute: Australia 20-4 Tonga. What a run by Sione Katoa! Tonga were desperately defending their line when the big No 4 shot out of the line and intercepted. He got 60 metres before Australia caught up with him. But when they did there were five guys in green and gold and none in red. Katoa stopped, stepped, charged again. Finally the Tongan support arrives but they promptly dropped the ball!

48th minute: Australia 20-4 Tonga. Almost another Trbojevic try but it’s a tap-on from Tabuai-Fidow that has been ruled forward. Tonga escape! But they need to up the intensity fast because Australia have exploded in this second-half. Mitch Barnett puts his extremely rude haircut over the ball with a big run and it sets up Moses for a little chip which Tabuai-Fidow chases. Tonga are pinned in their own half.

45th minute: Australia 20-4 Tonga. Grant tries the same trick but it doesn’t come off this time. But Moses has plenty of time to kick and it’s that slingshot Zac Lomax who contests the kick. Tonga clean it up. Paul Alamoti has left the field with a dislocated shoulder after being the nail to Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow’s hammer in a tackle just now.

TRY! Australia 20-4 Tonga (Trbojevic, 43″)

42nd minute: Australia 14-4 Tonga. Australia take the kickoff and it’s a captain’s run from Isaah Yeo that gets Australia rumbling to halfway where Moses puts it on the boot. Lomax chases like a dog pursuing a meatwagon but this time he can’t haul it down from the heavens. Tonga run it out of trouble.

Tonga coach Kristian Woolf refuses to be intimidated. He reckons Australia has scored their tries off the back of his side’s errors and that the 10-point margin doesn’t reflect how close this match has been. Here we go for the second half…

HALFTIME: Australia 14-4 Tonga

39th minute: Australia 14-4 Tonga. Have Australia scored again?! Tom Trbojevic looks to have planted this ball down. No! There’s a hand underneath and it belongs to Lehi Hopoate. Great try-saver in the shadows of halftime! But Australia retain possession and again it’s Trbojevic lunging for the line. Great scramble defence stops him one metre from the chalk and this time it’s Tolutau Koula with the try-saver. Good desperation from the men in red. That’ll be halftime.

TRY! Australia 14-4 Tonga (Trbojevic 37″)

36th minute: Australia 8-4 Tonga. Tonga have been impressive in defence but scattergun in attack. They reef it downfield from their own half and Coates takes it cleanly. Edwards darts in for good metres and Lomax does likewise. Dearden smalls a whiff of panic and gets the fast play-the-ball he wants. He jags left, jinks left and looks for support. Here it comes… and it’s Turbo-charged!

34th minute: Australia 8-4 Tonga. Pat Carrigan is off for Australia and Mitch Barnett is on. Dearden tries to take on the defence but the red line holds firm. Now there’s a dink kick for Tom Trbojevic. He bats it back and Hudson Young is there to take it and touchdown. Try? Looks like Trbojevic’s tapback might have gone forward…

33rd minute: Australia 8-4 Tonga. Tom Dearden elects to run on the last and he’s tackled easily. Strange option and it gives Tonga a chance to run it out of their own quarter. They do so with gusto through Soni Luke who is on from the bench. Australia look exhausted from all their defensive work but they’re hanging on grimly. Tonga need structure here. Their forwards have done the heavy lifting, now their backs have to step up. Isaiya Katoa spins out of a tackle and gets an offload away and Tonga cross… but I think they’ve lost this over the line. Yes. No try.

30th minute: Australia 8-4 Tonga. Reuben Cotter runs it back from the kickoff. He deserves a medal of valoiur for that feat right now. The Tongan tackling today has been ferocious. Now it’s Keaon Koloamatangi bending the line. Good run by the big Bunny. But it all falls apart with a knock-on. Australia on the counter-attack!

TRY! Australia 8-4 Tonga (Xavier Coates, 27″)

26th minute: Australia 4-4 Tonga. Having absorbed those hammer blow tackles, Australia are now on the attack. Dearden goes left and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow gets hit by three men. Somehow he wriggles free. Who’s loose? Xavier Coates!

24th minute: Australia 4-4 Tonga.Tom Dearden just got smashed and now it’s Felise Kaufusi hammering Angus Crichton! This is fearsome stuff by Tonga. Mitchell Moses kicks it out of trouble and again it’s Zac Lomax who flies high on the touchline. He misses the mark but the ball is flicked back but Taumalolo picks it up in goal and can’t get out. Kangaroos ball.

22nd minute: Australia 4-4 Tonga. Jason Taumalolo is leading from the front here. That’s another charge that sends Kangaroos pin-balling away. It creates the space down the left and they’ve opened the Kanharoos up. One pass, two and they’re in! Or was that an obstruction…? We’ll go to the Bunker here.

20th minute: Australia 4-4 Tonga. Now it’s Tonga charging into the teeth of the green and gold defensive line. But another poor kick gives it back to Australia. But Dylan Edwards has dropped it cold on tackle two. Tuimoala Lolohea picks it up 20 metres out and after three bone rattling hit-ups, Isaiya Katoa dabs a neat grubber at the posts which Dylan Edwards is forced to run dead. Tonga on top at CommBank!

TRY! Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (Australia 4 – 4 Tonga, 16″)

15th minute: Australia 0-4 Tonga. Great charge by Tolutau Koula gets Tonga another set and Tonga are on fire. Thery are two metres out and going to their lethal right side again. It sputters out and Australia counter through Dearden. He’s away! And who’s looming in support but The Hammer himself…

13th minute: Australia 0-4 Tonga. Almost another try to Sione Katoa! He flew high to take the bomb but Harry Grant of all people was there to catrch the crumbs and charge it out of trouble. Australia roll it downfield and will get a fresh set now. They attack to the right, fast hands but slow progress and finally it breaks down when Zac Lomax spills it. That was awesome pressure defence by Tonga. Australia look a little rattled.

10th minute: Australia 0-4 Tonga. The Kangaroos are under massive pressure now. They are struggling to get out of their own end but the Tongan torpedoes are cutting them down before they make five metres. Remember what’s at stake today: Australia has not been beaten on home soil since 2015 and Tonga are aiming for back-to-back Test wins for the first time since World Cup 2021. The Tongan choir is booming right now.

TRY! Sione Katoa (Australia 0-4 Tonga, 7″)

5th minute: Australia 0-0 Tonga. Both sides look dangerous as Australia’s lethal centre pairing Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Tom Trbojevic get a shimmy-shimmy going down the touchline and make good ground. With the songs of their people ringing out across the stadium, Tonga scramble them down. But it’s Australia on the attack…. until Crichton coughs it up in contact. Another early mistake from Angus!

2nd minute: Australia 0-0 Tonga. Here we go! Thunderous contact as Tonga receive the first kickoff and Siliva Havili powers back into the line. The visitors take 50-metres from their first set while the Kanfgaoos can only manage 30. The men inred have it back and are on the attack with good field position. Early pressure for the Aussies.

Better than any anthem, here is the Tongan war cry, with Siliva Havili leading the ‘Sipi Tau’. The Kangaroos are facing it a boomerang formation. The crowd are going bananas.

As we hear a stirring rendition of the Tongan national anthem, CommBank Stadium is a sea of red as Tongan fans pack in hoping their boys deliver a fat slice of history to a population of 107,773 back home. Advance Australia Fair answers the call and the players retreat to their respective corners ready for battle. Here we go…

If you missed last week’s match between New Zealand and Tonga you missed something very special. Racing into a 24–0 first-half lead amid a sea of red and black in Auckland, Tonga looked unstoppable as Sione Katoa, man-of-the-match Addin Fonua Blake, Silvia Havili and Soni Luke all crossed the whitewash.

But, in a remarkable comeback, the Kiwis came either side of half-time, scoring four converted tries of their own to lock the scoreboard up at 24-all. Jamayne Isaako’s long-range penalty and further drop-goal attempts from the winger and Shaun Johnson all went wide. Then 20-year-old half Isaiya Katia put his name up in lights with a field goal to give the Mate Ma’a a famous 25–24 win and booking Tonga’s place in the final.

Latest team news

Kangaroos: Australia have one major out with South Sydney captain Cameron Murray succumbing to a wrist injury. Canberra’s Hudson Young moves into the starting side while Penrith Panther Lindsay Smith joins the bench on Test debut. Ben Hunt will again serve as the replacement player.

Tonga XIII: Good news for Tonga with the late mail that Keaon Koloamatangi will play. The big Rabbitohs enforcer, Cam Murray’s best mate since childhood, was on tenterhooks with Mrs K to give birth any day now but will now join the bench. That’s awesome commitment to the cause by Mrs Koloamatangi! Big Keaon’s inclusion means there’s no room for Sitili Tupouniua, who instead becomes the replacement player.

Preamble

Angus Fontaine