‘Lightning’ star breaks Cedars hearts with 95m stunner
In case anyone had forgotten, Tolutau Koula reminded the league world he is one of the fastest in the game with a stunning 95m try.
In the shadows of half-time in Tonga’s 36-0 win over Lebanon in the Rugby League World Cup match at CommBank Stadium, Koula pounced on a loose ball, put on the afterburners and silenced the vocal Lebanese crowd.
Tolu Koula ran 95m to score in the shadows of half time. Getty Images
“If there is one man on the field who you do not want to get that ball to, it’s this man ... absolutely lightning,” Luke Keary said in commentary for Seven.
For much of the first half – and for periods of the second – the Cedars looked like they were up for the fight against their much more fancied opposition.
The two sides went blow for blow in the early going before Sione Katoa broke the deadlock in the 12th minute.
Paul Alamoti stretched the lead in the 20th, before Koula’s effort meant Tonga went into the break 14-0 up.
In the second half, Lebanon would have been desperate to score first, but instead it was Jojo Fifita who crossed for Tonga once more. He would score another later in the match.
Leka Halasima scored another in the 69th minute, before Katoa book ended the night with another try in the 79th minute.
Tonga captain Jason Taumalolo was unsurprisingly rapt with his side’s performance.
“A lot to like about the performance. We still had our defence … carrying over from last week – it’s good to see the guys take pride in the line,” he said on Seven’s coverage.
"A bit slow at the start there but finally picked up towards the back end."
In the earlier women’s game, Samoa bounced back from a 40-0 trouncing at the hands of the Jillaroos in the opening game to obliterate Wales 76-0.
It took them eight minutes to finally get on the board, but once they did they were virtually unstoppable.
Ivana Lolesio celebrating her own try in Samoa’s thrashing of Wales. Getty Images
They had 10 different try-scorers, eight players racked up over 100 running metres, the team notched 1708 run metres to 484m, 66 per cent of possession, 20 linebreaks to nil, 17 offloads to nil, and just six missed tackles to a whopping 61.
On debut, Tyra Ekepati scored a hat-trick, while Destiny Mino-Sinapati and Mercedez Taulelai-Siala scored doubles.
"We wanted to come out here and make a statement, and I'm really proud of the effort the girls put in tonight," Samoa skipper Evania Isa'ako said on Seven's coverage.
