By Finau Fonua

The Cook Islands are the talk of the Rugby League 9s World Cup after they decimated Tonga’s Invitational team 30 – 7 in the first round of the competition last night 18 October in Sydney, Australia.

Tonga’s Invitational team struggled to retain possession and conceded multiple penalties. The Cook Islanders took full advantage of their opponent’s errors, scoring three tries in the first half 14 – 0, and continued their onslaught in the second half with three more tries. 

A consolation try was scored by Sione Katoa in the last 2 minutes of the game. In order for Tonga’s Invitational team to qualify for the semi-finals of the competition, they will need to achieve two landslide victories over their remaining pool opponents Toa Samoa and Fiji Bati, and hope that the Cook Islands lose at least once.

The final day of the tournament is today 19 October. Tonga Invitational’s first game is against Fiji Bati at 3:10pm and Toa Samoa at 6:25pm (Tonga time).