大象传媒

England can expect some friendly fire (49)

• Bryn Palmer
• 28 Sep 07, 07:48 AM

Paris - might also be known as the Friendly Islands, the name Captain Cook gave them when he arrived on the archipelago in the southern Pacific Ocean in 1773.

But England are expecting a rather more hostile reception in Paris on Friday as they confront the surprise package of the World Cup.

The stakes are high for both teams, with Australia awaiting the winners in Marseille a week on Saturday in the quarter-finals.

Reaching that stage would represent a historic first for , while England aim to avoid becoming the first not to advance to the knock-out stages.

So what can we expect from Friday鈥檚 decisive pool encounter at the Parc des Princes?

IT鈥橲 HAKA TIME AGAIN

After Samoa's 鈥淪iva Tau鈥� last week, this week we will be treated to the 鈥淪ipi Tau鈥�, which first emerged at the 1995 World Cup at the behest of the Tongan king.

The Tongans may be very religious people, with the players reading a verse from the Bible before every match, but the 鈥業kale Tahi (the Sea Eagles, as the team are known) treat the rugby pitch as a battlefield.

Their Haka warns that the Sea Eagles are hungry, that foreigners better beware, that an omnipresent 鈥榙estroyer of souls鈥� will have no pity on the opposition half-backs, will devastate the front five, and crush the brave hearts of the back row.

It ends with the lines: 鈥淚 drink the ocean, I eat fire, my will is victory or death. Tonga will die for this goal.鈥�

鈥淥ur ancestors were a lot more vicious,鈥� chuckles Tonga鈥檚 media liaison officer Joh Fifita. 鈥淭hey never warned their enemy they were about to attack with a dance. The first they knew about it was when their throats were cut!鈥�

IT鈥橲 ALSO MAKA TIME!

, Tonga鈥檚 number eight, is probably the most distinctive player at this World Cup.

At 6ft 3in and a tad under 18 stone, you couldn鈥檛 miss him anyway, but his enormous Afro hairstyle ensures he has no chance of lying unseen on the wrong side of a ruck.

Maka will win only his fourth cap against England, but a few of the current red rose squad may remember him from their 鈥淭our of Hell鈥� in 1998.

As a 20-year-old he played for the New Zealand Academy alongside his elder brother Isitolo, against an under-strength and badly beaten English side.

At that time he still had ambitions of playing for the , but, while his brother won a handful of caps and another player of Tongan ancestry from the same Auckland suburb, , became a legend, Maka never made the grade.

Instead, he and his brother moved to France six years ago, where they have since helped Toulouse to two .

Finau was hoping that after serving a three-year residency period, Bernard Laporte might come calling.

But, unwanted by his adopted country, he was persuaded by new Tonga coach Quddus Fielea to belatedly play for his native one in this tournament.

鈥淚t is probably the first and last time this team will play together,鈥� Maka says, 鈥渟o it is a very special time for us. We have nothing to lose. The pressure is all on England.鈥�

BUT ONE PLAYER DOESN鈥橳 MAKE A TEAM鈥�

Correct. While Maka has undoubtedly been a talisman for Tonga with his dynamism off the base of the scrum, he has some quality company in the back row.

Captain and open-side flanker Nili Latu has been described as the Tongan , although, unlike the blond England World Cup winner, he has no hair at all.

But his support play and breakdown work have been superb, while the blind-side Hale T Pole is the worker who puts in the punishing hits, albeit two of the over-the-top variety earned him a and a one-match ban.

Perpignan鈥揵ased Viliami Vaki, who has moved from flanker to lock against England, has also impressed with his running and handling skills.

鈥淲e have looked at their back row really closely,鈥� said England captain Martin Corry, who believes 鈥渢here probably hasn鈥檛 been any better in the tournament鈥�.

He adds: 鈥淭he whole pack is very solid, they pick-and-go around the fringes and go through the guts. They have caused every other team in the group a lot of problems.鈥�

BUT DIDN鈥橳 ENGLAND BEAT TONGA 101-10 ONCE?

Yep, at the 1999 World Cup, when Tonga were a , as that match famously illustrated.

One of the more violent two-minute spells in World Cup history saw them have two players sin-binned and flanker Ngalu Taufo鈥檕u sent off for a violent attack on England flanker .

Current (non-starting) England captain Phil Vickery took exception and got a yellow card for aiming a punch in the same incident.

It is the only previous meeting between the two countries officially, although 5live commentator and former England full-back Alastair Hignell recalled, on our World Cup blog this week, one from 1979 that the history books don鈥檛 recognise.

SO WHAT鈥橲 CHANGED AND WHY THE CONCERN NOW?

Tonga came close to beating Wales at the last World Cup when they couldn鈥檛 even field some of their best players because of contractual issues with their European club employers.

But they still only had two wins 鈥� against the Ivory Coast in 1995, and Italy in 1999 鈥� from 13 matches spread over four World Cups coming into this one.

After beating the USA 25-15 in their opening match, they earned their first win (19-15) over Samoa in 10 attempts since 2000, resisting their Pacific neighbours when they were down to 14 men for the last eight minutes, and 13 for the last five.

They have followed it up by giving the the fright of their life in Lens last Saturday, when, but for the bounce of a ball, a 30-25 defeat might have become a victory.

Little wonder Brian Ashton says he has 鈥渕assive respect鈥� for the Tongans.

鈥淭hey have a huge amount of enthusiasm, they are cohesive up front, and have the ability to stay in the game for 80 minutes, which has not always been the case,鈥� noted England鈥檚 head coach this week. 鈥淎gainst these opponents, a momentary lapse of concentration will cause major problems.鈥�

PS - THEY ALSO HAVE 鈥淕ERMANIC鈥� EFFICIENCY

Before his Samoan side were surprisingly beaten by their 鈥淧acific Island cousins鈥�, coach tried to articulate the difference between Samoans and Tongans.

The great former All Blacks flanker said that whereas Samoans were 鈥渆xuberant, even a bit crazy 鈥� like the Irish of the Pacific鈥�, he thought Tongans were more conservative and methodical 鈥� "rather like the Germans鈥�.

And we all know what happens when England meet them in major tournaments.

Tonga literally means 鈥渟outh鈥� in Tongan. Will England鈥檚 World Cup hopes be heading the same way after Friday鈥檚 tete-a-tete?

Bryn Palmer is the 大象传媒 Sport website鈥檚 rugby union editor.

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