Samoa held off a second-half revival by visitors Tonga to post a 43-17 win in Apia on Friday and their first victory in the Pacific Nations Cup.
Winger Tuna Tuitama scored two tries as Samoa took a 29-0 lead before Tonga fought back after the break with loose forward Lotu Inisi touching down twice.
😎 Matchday vibes
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) August 30, 2024
📍 Apia, Samoa #PacificNationsCup | #SAMvTGA pic.twitter.com/FWHKC8UW2P
Samoa sealed the win with flanker Izaiha Moore-Aiono and lock Samuel Slade grabbing late tries.
The hosts bounced back in Apia having been thumped 42-16 by Fiji in their opening Pool A game last Friday in Suva.
The Samoans led from the front against Tonga as centre Stacey Ili crashed over from the base of the ruck, before setting up the second try for Tuitama.
Samoa put on a show to grab their first #PacificNationsCup win 🇼🇸 👏#SAMvTGA pic.twitter.com/BnCX8LXvBj
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) August 30, 2024
Fly-half D'Angelo Leuila kicked both conversions and landed a penalty as Samoa went into the break 17-0 up.
The hosts grabbed two more tries in quick succession after the break.
Tuitama bagged his second and Moore-Aiono dotted down from close range, stretching the score to 29-3 as Tonga fly-half Patrick Pellegrini landed a penalty to put the visitors on the board.
An exhilarating start to proceedings 🤝
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) August 30, 2024
Samoa's Siva Tau meets Tonga's Sipi Tau 🇼🇸 🇹🇴#PacificNationsCup | #SAMvTGA pic.twitter.com/Q26Fml5TUC
The Tongans further narrowed the gap to 29-17 with just under 20 minutes left when No 8 Inisi twice barged his way over.
Pellegrini landed both conversions, to the delight of the travelling fans.
The hosts sealed the win when Moore-Aiono grabbed his second try from close range and Slade burst through the defence to score Samoa's sixth try.
In Pool B on Saturday the USA host Canada, who lost their opening game to Japan last weekend.
The top two teams from each group qualify for the knock-out stages, ahead of the final in Osaka on September 21.