ENGLAND secured a series win on Saturday in a tough battle against a Tongan side struggling in wet conditions.
Shaun Wane’s men weren’t short of motivation to secure the series at Huddersfield over the weekend.
The England coach was visually upset in his post-match interview with the BBC, citing comments made by the Tongan camp following the first Test at St Helens.
In what was a low-scoring affair, there can be no excuses by Kristian Woolf’s men for their performance.
There are three key observations that can be taken from their second loss.
The first is that, like the Kiwis in the ingoing Pacific Championships, Tonga are struggling at dummy-half.
Siliva Havili has been sharing the duties with Dion Teaupa, a young stand-off, off the bench who was a key member in South Sydney Rabbitohs’ NSW Cup side this season.
During the NRL season, Havili came off the bench for the Rabbitohs and only played 20-30 minutes per game, while playing Teaupa through the middle is a big ask for a NSW Cup stand-off.
It might be time for Woolf to consider bringing highly-touted sensation Latu Fainu into the halves and moving Isaiya Katoa to nine.
This will provide the Tongan halves with great reception from a player (Katoa) who has the capacity to remain effective at hooker for longer stints and allow Havili to thrive in a role he is familiar with off the bench.
The adjustment which saw Tolutau Koula spend time at fullback over the weekend was the right call. He looked dangerous with the ball in hand and starting Haumole Olakau’atu on an edge was a great adjustment; he was constantly threatening when they delivered him the ball.
Eliesa Katoa was also damaging in his debut off the bench.
The second observation is that Tonga’s last-tackle options have been poor. At times, it seemed like Tonga’s halves were uncertain about what to do at that point.
Not many of their sets ended the way Woolf would have liked them to and the little success they did have was when they bombed the ball high or chanced their hand out wide.
Many opportunities went to waste because of poor options and errors and those mistakes proved costly when England’s back three got their side on the front foot.
Woolf needs to make an adjustment and it might be time to go for the hail-mary play and hand the keys to young 18-year-old Fainu.
There is a reason the Wests Tigers threw AU$4m at him and his brother Samuela to leave Manly.
Latu is arguably the most exciting young prospect in Australia and it would be great to see him in action this weekend.
The final observation is that Tonga’s discipline needs to improve.
Over the weekend it seemed like they took a step backwards from their performance in the first Test.
The conditions can be blamed for some of the dropped ball, but you can’t excuse poor discipline by gifting your opposition piggy-back penalties.
The game is officiated differently in the north. Niggle, pushing and shoving doesn’t have the latitude that it does in the NRL.
It looks like it could be another wet Saturday afternoon at Leeds, so Woolf’s players need to focus on their ball security, especially given how brutal England’s defence has been. Their line speed has won them this series.
A special mention to England’s middle link-man Victor Radley, who has been crucial in tying England’s attack together this series.
His work rate is unmatched through the middle and he kept turning up even after a number of rib ticklers from his NRL counterparts.
He wasn’t awarded man of the match, but he was an unsung hero in his side’s win.
Shaun Wane will have a headache this week when deciding who to play, with George Williams eligible for selection.
Tonga will need to fight fire with fire if they want any chance of stifling this relentless English pack in defence.
It’s shaping up for a great conclusion to the series.
