After a hard fought and physical encounter at Kingsholm Stadium in Gloucester on September 19, ‘Ikale Tahi have been defeated by Georgia 17-10 in their first 2015 Rugby World Cup match.

A Press Release from the Tonga Rugby Union stated both teams threw everything into the match, and looked fairly evenly placed midway through the first half, with kickers Kurt Morath and Georgian Merab Kvirikashvili slotting a penalty a piece, before Georgian Captain Mamuka Gorgodze pushed over at the 28th minute for the first of Georgia’s two tries of the night.

Tonga however faced heartbreak twice, with referee Nigel Owens disallowing a try to Viliami Ma’afu on half time, ruling a forward pass. Late in the second, Siale Piutau would also have a try disallowed after losing the ball in goal.

While there was some question about the Ma’afu try, Captain Nili Latu responded to questioning about the 50/50 call saying “Credit to Georgia for winning the game today. That’s rugby, we can’t look back today and say it was down to 50-50 calls. The referee has 32 cameras at the venue so I just hope they use them more often. They’re there for a reason, but full credit to Georgia for the win today.”

Head Coach Mana ‘Otai assessed the game saying “I don’t think [the loss] was [due to] ill-discipline, but it was in the technical areas where it didn’t come off. It wasn’t about foul play as such. There were a lot of technical issues we addressed at half-time. And of course in the scrum we got penalised a few times, and in the lineouts.”

“I think there were a lot of missed opportunities for us. There were times when the opportunities were there, but due to our own mistakes and the pressure Georgia put on us we didn't take them. Georgia deserved their win today."

There were still positives to come out of the match today, not the least of which was the try scored by winger Fetu’u Vainikolo in the 71st minute, linking up with Ma’afu to crash down in the corner.

While not the result hoped for, Latu summed up the day by saying “It’s always hard to come off a defeat. We just made everything harder for ourselves, but we have three games left and everything’s possible. We need to regroup, and we’re looking forward to it.”

Tonga will now head to Exeter to prepare for their next match against Namibia at Sandy Park, 29 September at 16:45 UTC