Spain delivered a convincing win 32-19 in the Nations Cup versus Tonga in Canada. However, it is the the manner of the victory and elimination of the penalty bug (14 versus Canada to six against Tonga) which is likely to be the most pleasing aspects.
A changed pack, with five players coming in for Spain and a start for 7´s player Jaime Manteca delivered the much desired complete performance for Spain after last week´s underwhelming draw. A jittery lineout aside, Spain dominated the opening ten minutes and were happy to build pressure with slow but controlled rucks, committing plenty of players to the breakdown to avoid turnovers and dictate the pace of the game.
A good passage for Spain in the 14th minute with Spain soaking up pressure, not getting pinged and winning the turnover showed a new defence discipline this week. The missed touchfinder off the penalty showing the brainfades that still need to be eradicated. Tonga would take the lead in the 22nd minute with a dummy from Takulua that the whole stadium bought. Still, the scrum from which it came was off a Spanish knock on in a one on one tackle. After this, Spain tightened up.
Once again though, it was the enigmatic Tani Bay with an almost Rugby Leaguesque run (as if spotting the markers weren´t square to bolt through the gap) to put Spain back in control. Most pleasing was Spain didn´t panic after conceding the try but simply went back to work. Building pressure that led to goal line drop out and made Tonga consistently defend until they switched off.
Spain´s further pressure, aided by fantastic kicking from Spain´s backfield using the wind in the first half earned the yellow for Tonga and Spain immediately made the most of the advantage with a try. At half time Spain led 17-5.
Spain Nations Cup: Bending not breaking
A missed opportunity for Spain with a lost lineout inside 10 metres of Tonga´s line and a stong defensive stand for Spain in the 46th minute with Tonga held up. This meant there would be a gap of 22 minutes between points before Spain scored again. The most pleasing of the try was the phases of play before , when Spain lost possession but despite a back and forth battle in midfield, Spain refused to get lazy and give up penalties. It´s amazing how much more solid Spain looked when they didn´t give the opposition piggybacks up the field in their own 22 every 5 minutes.
Although Spain would concede two more tries, including one at the death. Spanish discipline from the Tongan try from 60th minute to the 79th minute meant a deserved 32-19 win.
USA awaits
More points for Spain, more highlight reels from Tani Bay but by far the best part of this performance was the improved Spanish defence. Tonga were made to earn every point and the ability of Spain to defend multiple phases, and not getting pinged immediately over turnovers was a complete turnaround from Canada. Are there areas to clean up? Always. But the effort on defence with a one on one tackle from Wessel Bell in the corner epitomising the night and day difference at the back for Spain.
It makes for a fantastic final match-up of the summer for Spain versus the USA, whose impressive round one win versus Portugal was followed up by victory over Zimbabwe.
Spain Nations Cup games available on RugbyPassTV
