Tonga lived up to their pre-tournament hype by thrashing Scotland 50-4 in their Rugby League World Cup opener in Cairns on Sunday.
Michael Jennings scored the first of his three tries in only the third minute as the Kingdom raced to a 38-0 halftime lead.
Michael Jennings bagged a hat-trick for Mate Ma'a Tonga. Photo: NRL Photos
It would take another 33 minutes before they scored again, before Daniel Tupou and 'Ata Hingano added some late gloss.
Meanwhile Jason Taumalolo ran for 197 metres, made 18 hit-ups and bagged a try in his first test for Mate Ma'a Tonga since the 2013 World Cup.
Head coach Kristian Woolf said they started the game superbly but but need to improve on their finishing.
"We did the simple things really well: we got through our sets, we kicked really well, we were disciplined - I was really happy with what we did in the first half," he said.
"I thought we probably went away from all those things a little bit at times in the second half and we got a little bit ill disciplined and we gave away six or seven penalties.
"We got a little bit ill disciplined with the ball as well - kept giving it back to them - and I guess just really let the game degrade a bit.
"You could look at a couple of opportunities that we blew too...we'd probably talk about the second half a little bit different if we made the most of those but we didn't finish as well as we would of liked".
Jason Taumalolo impressed for Tonga. Photo: NRL Photos
Kristian Woolf downplayed the Kingdom's title chances and said there was still a lot of improvement required before the can match it with the likes of Australia, New Zealand and England.
"Oh we're a long way from the finished product. I think tonight really is a glimpse of what we're capable of, to be honest," he said.
"We've obviously got a lot of talent out there, we're a very very capable footy side (but) we've got to improve a lot, we'll need to improve a lot next week for Samoa .
"They're our traditional rivals, they'll be right up to play us and we'll be right up to play them and that will be a really hot game of footy so we all know we're going to have to be better.
"That gives us a real good confidence boost. It gives us a bit of a glimpse of our ability and we can certainly enjoy a good win tonight".
Tonga's big win capped an impressive opening weekend for Pacific teams, who all remain in the hunt for a place in the quarter finals, after Papua New Guinea steamrolled Wales 50-6 and Fiji blitzed the USA 58-12, with Samoa's 38-8 defeat by New Zealand the only blip.
Tongan league fans show their support. Photo: NRL Photos
