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Samoa fended off a second-half resurgence by visiting Tonga in Apia on Friday to win 43-17, their first ever Pacific Nations Cup victory.
Winger Tuna Tuitama scored twice to give Samoa a 29-0 lead. Tonga fought back after halftime, with striker Lotu Inisi scoring twice.
Samoa sealed the win with late tries from flanker Izaiha Moore-Aiono and lock Samuel Slade.
The hosts were beaten 42-16 by Fiji in their opening Group A match in Suva last Friday before bouncing back strongly in Apia.
Samoa took the lead against Tonga when centre Stacey Ili came through from the bottom of the faceoff zone and then set up Tuitama for a second touchdown.
Halfback D’Angelo Leuila kicked two extra points and converted a penalty kick as Samoa took a 17-0 lead into the halftime break.
After halftime, the home team scored two touchdowns in quick succession.
Tuitama scored the second goal, Moore-Iounou scored from close range to extend the lead to 29-3, and then Tonga half-back Patrick Pellegrini scored a penalty to score for the visitors.
With less than 20 minutes left, Tonga further narrowed the gap to 29-17 thanks to two breakaways by No. 8 seed Inisi.
Pellegrini scored both of his shots, much to the delight of the fans in attendance.
The hosts sealed the win when Moore-Ioanno scored a second time from close range and Slade broke through the defence to score Samoa’s sixth.
On Saturday, the United States will host Canada in Group B, which lost its opening match to Japan last weekend.
The top two teams in each group will advance to the knockout stage, with the final to be held in Osaka on September 21.
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