Age-old rivals, Samoa and Tonga, will do battle on Saturday the 27th of July in the opening round of the 2019 Pacific Nations.
Manu Samoa begin the World Cup preparation in earnest this weekend when they take on fellow Islanders Tonga. Games between these two sides are always brutal affairs and this one is likely to be full-on with plenty of bone shuddering hits.
Samoa v Tonga
Saturday 27 July
Apia Park
04:00
To Win (80 Mins)
Samoa 13/20
Draw 20/1
Tonga 5/4
Handicap
Samoa (-2.5) 17/20
Tonga (+2.5) 17/20
Samoa
The Samons have been very vocal ahead of the Pacific Nations Cup with prop Logovi’i Mulipola claiming that there recently concluded training camp in Auckland was “one of the best”.
It’s no surprise that he’s come out and said this as Samoa don’t often get to have extended training camps prior to big tournament’s as they struggle to get their European players released from their clubs. They’ve had a full week together this time around, and while that is still a minuscule amount of time compared to the Tier 1 nations, it’s a hell of a lot of hours for Samoa.
With the majority of their overseas players in the training squad, Samoa will be able to field a solid looking squad this weekend. One man to keep an eye out for is Sevens star Johnny Vaili who was one of the HSBC Sevens Series nominees for ‘Rookie of the Year’.
Tonga
While this year’s Nations Cup will be mainly used as World Cup preparation, Tonga will be looking for another impressive showing having finished last year’s edition as runners-up. There only defeat in last year’s tournament came at the hands of Champions invitational side Georgia, with Tonga beating Samoa 28-16 – they didn’t play Fiji last year as the tournament was just two rounds long.
Tonga actually have a decent recent record over Samoa having won the 2017 Pacific Nations Cup clash between the two sides 30-26.
The visitors will be hard-pressed to repeat the feat this year as there last two victories over Samoa came on home soil. They also haven’t had as much time to train as their opponents have.
Verdict: Samoa (-2.5) 17/20
While Tonga has the better forward pack, I think the Samoans will take this one. They have spent far more time together and it should show at Apia Park. My money is on the hosts winning it by more between six and 10 points.
