Magic, pain and lightning strikes: The crazy 175 minutes that kept Samoa alive

Tonga’s hopes of clinching a maiden piece of international rugby league silverware will now hinge on whether a returning Jason Taumalolo can inspire what would be one of the biggest boilovers in rugby league history.

The wounded warrior was forced to watch on the sidelines nursing a knee issue as two moments of Jeremiah Nanai magic and an unforeseen 95-minute storm delay ignited Samoa’s Pacific Championships cause, after the star lock was ruled out of Tonga’s 34-6 defeat at Suncorp Stadium.

While the 32-year-old – who had a knee clean out at the end of his NRL season – was unable to attain his own lofty heights for North Queensland in 2025, limited to just 10 games through injury, he so often finds another gear once the red jumper gets on his back.

“He obviously had end of season surgery, and it was always a little bit of a rush to get him back for that game,” Tonga coach Kristian Woolf said.

“I just felt when I watched a few things and some training vision and him running, I felt it wasn’t the right thing to do by him to play him. He’ll be right to go … I don’t think I’ll be able to hold him back next week.”

Taumalolo’s absence in front of 44,682 fans on Sunday became even more glaring when fellow middle man Stefano Utoikamanu was ruled out in the opening minutes with a category one concussion.

Unless Tonga are able to gain an exemption, he will now miss next week’s clash with New Zealand after the hit from Francis Molo, with the Samoan reported but not sin binned, with Tonga needing to win by at least 17 points to set up a Samoan rematch in the decider.

“It’s not why we lost the game, we got outplayed and Samoa were outstanding. But it is something we need to look at here and in clubland I suppose,” Woolf said, when asked about Molo staying on the field.

“If you’ve got a player who’s got to go off for foul play and can’t return ... it is something that needs to be looked at, you don’t just lose a player - you lose an interchange and potentially lose him for two weeks, and there’s not much repercussion the other way.”

But even with the game still in the balance at 16-0 approaching the final 20 minutes, this tale had one more twist, with players forced from the field at 4.25pm Queensland time amid a ferocious storm.

Hail, a deluge and lightning strikes all featured in the delay, forcing Tonga to chase points in the wet.

Before that, the men in blue set about sending their fans into a frenzy – the opening try to Izack Tago one of razzle-dazzle as he accepted a late Blaize Talagi pass while falling in a tackle.

But it was Nanai who got this crowd to its feet – leaping above the pack to juggle a Jarome Luai bomb one-handed before crawling his way to the line.

Eight minutes into the second half, the Queensland Origin sensation drew the biggest crowd reaction of the afternoon, kicking for himself on last play to score again. From there, after the storm delay, Samoa were home – tries to Murray Taulagi, Payne Haas and Chanel Harris-Tavita after the break blowing the scoreline out.

“That’s just what he does, you see that week to week how he goes after kicks. When we come into international Tests we need to use our strengths, and that’s definitely one of ours,” Luai said of Nanai.

Even as storm clouds darkened over the stadium, the energy inside remained electric despite more than half the spectators leaving during the interval. At kick-off, this was the biggest crowd in a Test not including Australia in Australia since more than 50,000 watched France and Great Britain at the 1957 World Cup.

The new bash brothers

This was one of the finest performances Junior Paulo had produced in recent memory, and his combination with Haas signalled an ominous warning to the rest of world rugby league.

The Parramatta veteran was Samoa’s spiritual leader when it came to physicality, with one crunching hit in particular on Tongan hooker Soni Luke setting the tone.

Despite limping badly at one point after making a line break, Paulo charged on – finishing with 93 running metres, 30 tackles and three offloads.

After the storm delay, the fans who remained at the ground needed a reason to celebrate. When Paulo engaged the line at close range and found a short pass for Haas to dive over, they erupted.

The sight of Paulo and Haas together should make rivals across the globe wary ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

“I think it just comes down to the passion wearing the jersey - passion over pain,” Paulo said.

“He’s an icon back in Samoa for the next generation, and for myself. But his performance today just showed what the jersey means to him,” Luai added.

A tale of two halves

After getting their first hit-out as a partnership in last week’s defeat to the Kiwis, Samoan halves Luai and Talagi both produced significantly improved and more controlled performances to spearhead the victory.

Luai’s composed kicking game kept his rival back three well pinned in their own end. Talagi was then able to play what he saw, as he sought to engage the line with his running.

Coming out of the delay, the pair combined with Luai engaging the defence and Talagi providing a brilliant tap on for Taulagi to cross.

In contrast, the Tongan playmaking duo of Isaiya Katoa and Isaiah Iongi was given little opportunity to strike behind a largely beaten forward pack. When their moments did come, they were unable to get in sync.

Two forward passes in the opening half cost Tonga attacking chances deep in Samoan territory.

Twice more Luke made breaks out of dummy half, only for a butchered pass on the first instance and Iongi’s failure to ground his kick-ahead on the other costing them. A Tolu Koula consolation try was all they could muster.

While both have proven to be two of the NRL’s most promising rising talents, they will need to gel together if they are to have a chance of keeping their hopes alive.