Tongan star hospitalised as concussion drama overshadows Kiwis’ win

A pre-match drama involving forward Eliesa Katoa could attract further scrutiny after he was rushed to hospital as Tonga bowed out of the Pacific Championships with a 40-14 loss to New Zealand at Eden Park, Auckland, on Sunday.

The result means the Kiwis will meet Samoa in the tournament decider at CommBank Stadium next Sunday.

Tonga were already behind the eight-ball before the game kicked off, after a 34-6 thrashing from Samoa seven days earlier left them needing to beat the Kiwis by at least 18 points to reach the final.

Those hopes appeared to have suffered a major setback during the pre-game warm-up, when Katoa copped an accidental shoulder flush to the head from teammate Lehi Hopoate.

The Storm back-rower appeared dazed, but he took his place for the national anthems and in the starting line-up for kick-off.

“It would be interesting if he actually went through an HIA,” Nine commentator Brad Fittler said.

Ten minutes into the game, Katoa had to leave the field for treatment after a stray elbow from teammate Will Penisini left him with a facial wound. Again he returned to the fray, but was unable to prevent the home side from racing to a 24-2 half-time lead.

He eventually suffered another knock and was benched midway through the second half, with blood trickling down his face.

He was later transported from the field on a medicab, having apparently fallen ill while sitting on the sideline.

Tonga coach Kristian Woolf confirmed the strike weapon had been taken to hospital but defended his staff’s handling of the situation.

“Obviously he wasn’t great on the sidelines, but I don’t know the full details,” Woolf said.

“The doctors have gone with him [to hospital], but he wasn’t great on the sidelines.

“But I’m told he was responsive and he was improving before he went to the hospital … we’ve got two very experienced doctors there.

“They’ve done their usual HIA. He’s passed all that and passed all that well.

“My job is not to question doctors. They were both comfortable with that, and comfortable with him coming back onto the field.

“So I don’t think there’s anything to worry about there with the process.”

Woolf said Katoa had two HIAs during the game but added: “There wasn’t an HIA during the warm-up, no.”

The incident came a week after the controversy surrounding a high shot by Frank Molo that left Tonga’s Stefano Utoikomanu concussed, yet resulted in only a $390 fine and no sin-binning for the Samoa forward.

Running on fresh legs after a week off, New Zealand struck first in the 18th minute when fullback Keano Kini started and finished a long-range try.

Newcastle-bound Dylan Brown then scored after spearing straight through the middle of the ruck, before turning provider for centre Casey McLean five minutes later with a pinpoint chip kick.

The Penrith tyro has now scored seven tries in just three Tests.

When Kiwis centre Matt Timoko scored in the 37th minute, it was 24-0 and a cricket score appeared on the cards.

Then New Zealand lost Erin Clark to the sin-bin on the stroke of half-time, allowing Tonga to put two points on the board, through Isaiya Katoa.

New Zealand winger Jamayne Isaako restored the 24-point margin with a penalty goal early in the second half.

Tonga finally cracked the Kiwis open the 49th minute, when replacement forward Demitric Vaimauga crashed over from short range.

But then Tonga allowed the kick-off to go dead, providing New Zealand with another attacking opportunity, which they duly converted into a Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad try.

A second Brown try in the 66th minute was a good sign for the Knights, as they await his arrival to start a 10-year contract.

His future Newcastle teammate Phoenix Crossland was next to join the scoring procession after a clever pass from Te Maire Martin.

As it the case so often when these two nations clash, the bumper Eden Park crowd of 38,914 was dominated by Tongan fans.

Veteran winger Daniel Tupou gave them reason to cheer with a 76th-minute consolation try.

Kiwis coach Stacey Jones praised his forwards for starting strongly to set up the victory.

“It was a really good game from these boys, right from the start,” Jones said.

“And that’s where we wanted to get it right – the start.”

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport are sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.