Wales run in seven tries to crush Tonga

Liam Williams bagged two tries in a milestone test as Wales carried on their winning form to crush Tonga 74-24, their biggest victory over the Pacific islanders

Liam Williams is tackled by Latu Talakai and Leva Fifita

Wales' Liam Williams (C) has run in two tries as Wales crushed Tonga during their test in Cardiff. (AAP)

Wing Liam Williams has scored two tries on his 50th appearance for Wales to help secure an emphatic 74-24 victory over Tonga at the Millennium Stadium.

Wales, who made 14 changes from last weekend's 9-6 victory over Australia, survived an impressive rally either side of halftime from the Pacific islanders that briefly saw Tonga level the scores before the experience and unerring pressure from the home team took them to an eighth test victory in a row on Saturday.

Flyhalf Dan Biggar, wing Steff Evans, scrumhalf Tomos Williams, centre Tyler Morgan, lock Cory Hill, scrumhalf Aled Davies and replacement No.10 Rhys Patchell also crossed the line for the home side, to go with a penalty try awarded after just three minutes in the 10-try romp.

But Tonga, who fought back to 24-17 at halftime after conceding three tries in the first 12 minutes, managed three tries of their own through locks Leva Fifita and Steve Mafi and No.8 Sione Vailanu, as their powerful forwards battered the Welsh defence.

Wales raced into a 22-3 lead, set on their way when they were awarded a penalty try inside three minutes after their maul was illegally stopped by Fifita, who was sent to the sin-bin.

Biggar scored the second try three minutes later as he passed 300 points for Wales and Williams grabbed his first to seemingly take the test away from Tonga with barely a quarter of the game gone.

But the visitors began to dominate the forward exchanges and after Fifita and Mafi had barged their way over, Vailanu levelled the scores three minutes into the second half and an upset was on the cards.

But from that moment Wales took control of the test with some excellent play with ball in hand and ran in a further seven tries for their biggest victory over Tonga.

Wales's eight test wins in a row represents their best run of form since 2004-2005 and they can extend that further in their final November international against South Africa in Cardiff next Saturday.


Share
2 min read

Published

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world