“He got some things wrong against Australia, and he could’ve very easily gone into his shell and stopped trying to have an influence on the game that you need your halfback to have”
Tonga XIII are breathing a sigh of relief as they narrowly escaped a close contest against the Kiwis on Saturday night.
With scores at 24 all and time running out on the clock, it was a field goal from young halfback Isaiya Katoa that secured the win for Tonga much to the delight of its fans.
Speaking to media after the match, coach Kristian Woolf was full of praise for the 20 year old.
“I’m really proud of how he responded, and just showed so much maturity and why he is going to become an elite halfback. His whole game the way he controlled the game, the way he put things together for our points when we were under pressure”
Reflecting back on their recent loss to Australia, Woolf was proud of the efforts shown by his players, but more so the growth and turn around shown by Isaiya to pull off a spectacular performance against the Kiwis.
“He got some things wrong against Australia, and he could’ve very easily gone into his shell and stopped trying to have an influence on the game that you need your halfback to have”
“To show that calmness, and take that one point in the end it shows what he is capable of”
Woolf and his side now will have to face Australia this weekend again for the Pacific Championship decider with the hopes of this time coming away with the victory.
Australia who are coming off a week long break will be looking to clinch this year’s decider after losing to the Kiwis in last year’s final.
Although it was a home game for the Kiwis on Saturday, it could be said that it really felt like Tonga were back in Nuku’alofa playing in front of their home crowd.
The team were motivated right from the start by the singing and energy provided by the fans who came out in big numbers packing out the seats of Go Media Stadium.
Moving into next week’s decider against Australia, Woolf says that will take the momentum and energy rush gathered from the atmosphere in New Zealand and channel it in for their performance next week.
“I want the players to enjoy it, they have earnt something special,” he said.
“We have a quick turnaround for next week, and we will get together on Monday and start worrying about that then. I know what this win means for these guys and I got no doubt they will be up for next week as well”
