28 May 2013

Sport: Tonga U20 coach says forwards battle will be decisive

10:41 am on 28 May 2013

Tonga Under 20 rugby coach Fe'ao Vunipola is calling on his forwards to step up and set the platform for victory in the Junior World Rugby Trophy, which kicks off on Wednesday.

The Kingdom will be vying with seven other teams for the tournament title in Chile, and with it promotion to the top-tier of junior rugby, the Junior World Championship.

Tonga finished third at the same tournament last year and, ahead of their opening match against Canada, Fe'ao Vunipola says it all starts up front.

"If you don't have the forward platform then you can't play. I think that has been the achilles of most Tongan teams - we sort of ignore the basics and we enjoy the flair, the open rugby, and not dealing with the set piece well. That's one of the focus areas we've been looking at, since the Samoa [Under 19] tournament, we've focused on our set piece and from there we can progress and do whatever game we want to play."