Tonga captain and Worcester Warriors hooker Aleki Lutui has called on his country to get their basics right after they were edged out 24-23 against Samoa in the second game of the 2010 Pacific Nations Cup (PNC) in Apia on Sunday.
Lutui skippered his country for the first time since the last World Cup but was Tonga, who have never beaten Samoa in the PNC narrowly miss out.
Kurt Morath kicked 13 points for the Tongans but tries from Junior Poluleuigaga, a penalty and Sevens star Mikaele Pesamino secured the victory for the Samoan hosts in the sweltering heat.
Tonga captain Lutui said: “There are a lot of young players in the team and it will take some time to get going. There is a lot of work needed as we have to get the basics right and get our combinations correct before the next match. We scored some opportunist tries, which was good but we need to work on getting more into the game.”