By James Standley
Samoa (top) went into the game as favourites but played very poorly
Samoa (12) 15
Pens: Williams 5 Williams 5 Tonga (6) 19
Tries: Taione
Cons: Hola
Pens: Hola 4
Tonga shocked Pacific Island neighbours Samoa to throw the race for Pool A qualification wide open.
Four penalties from Gavin Williams gave Samoa a 12-6 half-time lead.
But an Epi Taione try and five points from Pierre Hola, who had kicked two first-half penalties, put them 19-12 up in Montpellier.
A fourth Williams penalty trimmed the gap but Tonga held on to consolidate their second place in the group despite despite losing two men late on.
Samoa, who are England's next opponents on 22 September, had been expected to provide the greatest threat to the floundering world champions' hopes of reaching the quarter-finals.
But this result means England must now be dreading their meeting with Tonga, who beat USA in their opening game, on 28 September in Paris as well.
606: DEBATE
Tonga and Samoa have a reputation for being among the two most explosive sides in the world game but anyone expecting a pulsating opening to the encounter was to be disappointed.
Samoa had battered South Africa for 40 minutes in their opening match in France before running out of steam in the second half.
But they started slowly against Tonga, who drew first blood through Hola's penalty.
Samoa soon hit back through a penalty from Williams, the son of former New Zealand legend Brian, and were also denied a try when the televison match official ruled out a score from Elvis Seveali'i.
Samoa's territorial advantage led to two more Williams penalties, the second after a trademark charge from powerhouse Leicester winger Alesana Tuilagi.
When Tonga saw former Newcastle and Sale player Taione sin-binned after yet another infringement at a ruck, a fourth Williams penalty made it 12-3 after 28 minutes.
Toulouse flanker Finau Maka excelled for Tonga
Tonga, ranked four places below Samoa, reduced the deficit through a second Hola penalty as the half ended 12-6.
Hola then added another three points before Tonga took the lead when Taione finished off a powerful forward drive.
Hola converted to make it 16-12 before edging his side further ahead with a fourth penalty.
Hale T Pole conceded a silly penalty to enable Williams to trim the gap to four points.
And the Tongan blind-side then put his side in deep trouble as he was red-carded following a forearm smash to the face of a Samoan with nine minutes to go.
Things went from bad to worse for Tonga as replacement Toma Toke was shown a yellow card for a high tackle to reduce the Sea Eagles to 13 men.
But Samoa could not take advantage as Tonga produced a series of big hits in defence to claim a shock victory.
"It was very disappointing. We know we are a better side than how we played, especially in the second half.
"The biggest disappointment for us was we made too many unforced errors and we didn't have the mental toughness to push through when they had men down in the last few minutes.
"At the end of day we were beaten by a team that was much hungrier and that hurts us to say that because we normally pride ourselves on our passion and desire.
"We were out-passioned and out-muscled by a very, very good Tongan team. We acknowledge that. They were awesome."
"I think when we went down to 13, no-one realised that we had a big prayer this morning before the game. That was the secret of the whole thing.
"Normally back at home Sunday is a rest day, but we had this draw to play on Sunday and so we had a prayer instead.
"I'm not really in a position to rate this victory, that will be up to the rugby community at home, but I would say it is one of the tops, to win two games in the World Cup is a major achievement."
Samoa: Williams; Tagicakibau, Seveali'i, Mapusua, A Tuilagi; Crichton, So'oialo; Va'a, Schwalger, Johnston, Tekori, Thompson, Leo, Ulia, Sititi (capt).
Replacements: Fuga, Salanoa, Lafaiali'I, Purdie, Polu, Lui, Lemi.
Tonga: Lilo; Tu'ifua, Hufanga, Taione, Vaka; Hola, Taufa; Tonga'uiha, Taukafa, Pulu, Afeaki, Hehea, Pole, Latu (capt), Maka.
Replacements: Lutui, Toke, Vaki, Kauhenga, Tu'ipulotu, Tupou, Tonga'uiha.
__NOTOC__ __NOEDITSECTION__

Las naciones del Pacífico buscaban lugares clasificatorios en la etapa de eliminaciones de la Copa Mundial de Rugby 2007.

El seleccionado de Fiyi superó a Canadá por 29–16, ganando un punto bonus que le dio el segundo lugar en el grupo B. El seleccionado de Tonga venció sobre Samoa por 15–19 en el grupo A. La selección de Francia destrozó a Namibia por 87–10 en el grupo D. Luego de hacer doce cambios al equipo que perdió ante Argentina, los franceses marcaron 13 tries en su mayor victoria.

=== Fiyi – Canadá ===



Canadá marcó los primeros puntos del partido luego de un penal de James Pritchard. Nicky Little logró igualarlo cuatro minutos después para Fiyi, y tomaron la delantera en el minuto 20 luego de un try de Kele Leawere. Canadá se amntuvo con otro penal de Pritchard, pero Fiyi extendió la diferencía a 15–6 cuando Kameli Ratuvou marcó su try.

Luego del medio tiempo, Vilimoni Delasau otorgó a Fiyi su tercer try, pero Canadá se aproximó a tan solo 6 puntos luego de un try de Ryan Smith y un tercer penal de Pritchard. Kameli Ratuvou selló la victoria y el punto bonus crucial para Fiyi luego de un try de último minuto, dejando el partido en un 29–16.

Fiyi se encuentra segundo en el grupo B con diez puntos, sobre Gales con cinco y detrás de Australia. Canadá está último lugar del grupo, a un punto de Japón.

=== Tonga – Samoa ===



En el grupo A, Tonga se llevó una sorpresiva victoria sobre Samoa. Pierre Hola los llevó en la delantera con un penal en el tercer minuto, pero Gavin Williams de Samoa acertó cuatro penales dando una ventaja a Samoa. Hola pateó un segundo penal para Tonga en el minuto 38, cerrando en el medio tiempo con 12–6.

Tonga tomó la delantera en la segunda mitad con dos penales más de Pierre Hola y un try de Epeli Taione. Gavin Williams marcó el quinto penal de Samoa, pero Tonga se mantuvo en su triunfo a pesar de haber sufrido la expulsión de un jugador y que otro haya recibido una tarjeta amarilla casi al final del partido.

Tonga está segundo en el grupo A con ocho punto, detrás de Sudáfrica con nueve y sobre Inglaterra con cuatro. Samoa está cuarto en el grupo con tan solo un punto, sobre un Estados Unidos sin puntos.

=== Francia – Namibia ===



Francia marcó 13 tries contra Namibia en su victoria de 87–10. El resultado es el mejor obtenido para Francia en la Rugby Unión.

Habiendo cambiado drásticamente el lado que perdió ante Argentina en el partido inaugural del campeonato, Francia no tuvo problemas en este partido y Cédric Heymans abrió con un try en el minuto 7. Namibia respondió tres minutos después con un drop de Emile Wessels.

David Marty continuó las anotaciones para Francia, pero Namibia perdió un jugador poco después cuando Jacques Nieuwenhuis recibió una tarjeta roja por un tackle peligroso. Francia marcó cuatro tries más en la primera etapa: uno de Thierry Dusautoir, otro de Vincent Clerc y dos de Lionel Nallet para llevar el marcador a 40–3 para cuando llegó el medio tiempo.

Vincent Clerc marcó otros dos tries más en la segunda mita, y Julien Bonnaire, Sébastien Chabal (2), Jean-Baptiste Élissalde y Raphaël Ibañez marcaron más. Bratley Langenhoven marcó un try tardío y de consuelo para Namibia y redujo la ventaja de Francia a 77 puntos.

Francia está tercera en el grupo D con seis puntos, mientras que Argentina e Irlanda lideran con 9 puntos cada uno. Namibia está último con ningún punto, y cuarto está Georgia con un punto.