Mate Ma'a Tonga ready to battle Toa Samoa [1]
Saturday, May 7, 2016 - 13:35. Updated on Friday, May 13, 2016 - 17:56.
Mate Ma’a Tonga are set to collide against Toa Samoa at Pirtek Stadium in Parramatta tonight at 10:40pm (Tonga local time) May 7. The game will be the fourth annual Pacific test match between the two teams since 2013.
Mate Ma’a Tonga possesses a mixture of experience and youth. There are three players from second division NRL development squads along with seasoned veterans such as Feleti Mateo, Sika Manu and Mickey Paea.
Toa Samoa possesses a formidable team and are widely considered to be the favourites for the test match. They possess powerful runners in the form of Sam Kasiano and Frank Pritchard. Samoa narrowly defeated Tonga last year by 18 points to 16 after Sam Kasiano prevented winger Jorge Taufua from scoring a game winning try in the dying minutes of the game.