LeagueNews.co | Jason Patrick
Tonga's forward Felise Kaufusi has pledged that the team will come back stronger this weekend, acknowledging their feelings of being "embarrassed" following a 34-6 defeat to Samoa in Brisbane.
The loss puts Tonga in a position where they must beat New Zealand by at least 18 points at Eden Park to have any hope of making it to the Pacific Cup final and securing a rematch with their Pacific rivals.
"[I feel] kind of embarrassed to be honest; we had such a great build-up to the campaign and wanted to put it out there, but we were a bit rusty, bit off the pace and obviously didn't help ourselves with the errors," Kaufusi told nrl.com.
"We weren't executing and the discipline… you can't afford to do that at this level."
He further added, "Maybe club level you can get away with it, but definitely internationals, and against a team like Samoa, they were on tonight and it showed."
Kaufusi expressed gratitude for another opportunity to face New Zealand and mentioned that the team would learn valuable lessons from their previous performance.
He also shared insights into the strategy required to overcome the Kiwis, admitting that his team needs to improve in their upcoming match.