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Rugby World Cup | Group Stage
Sep 19, 2015 at 12pm UK
 
Tonga
10-17
Georgia
Vainikolo (72')
FT
Gorgodze (28'), Tkhilaishvili (57')

Nili Latu: 'Tonga weren't good enough'

Tonga captain Nili Latu tells Sports Mole that his side's struggles up front contributed to their World Cup defeat to Georgia at Kingsholm.

Tonga captain Nili Latu has conceded that his side did not deserve to beat Georgia in their opening Rugby World Cup match at Kingsholm this afternoon.

The Pacific Islanders dominated both possession and territory in Gloucester, but a mixture of Tongan mistakes and Georgian resilience in defence saw the Europeans pick up a famous victory.

Latu believes that the forward battle was a particularly key element of the match, with Georgia 'disrupting' his side at set pieces.

"I think Georgia grinded away really well in the scrum. They disrupted us in our lineout as well," he told Sports Mole.

"We wanted to come into this game with our set piece, and with the situations during the game, we felt like we could control it, but it wasn't good enough. Georgia kept putting pressure on us in our scrums and lineouts, so it's something we've got to look at."

Tonga next take on Namibia on September 29 before ending their group campaign with matches against Argentina and New Zealand.

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Tonga's Nili Latu lines up for the the national anthems during the Autumn International rugby union Test match between Scotland and Tonga at Rugby Park in Kilmarnock, Scotland on November 22, 2014
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