KEY POINTS:
Tonga 19
Samoa 15
Samoa were definitely the losers in Montpellier yesterday but there is uncertainty whether Tonga or England were the real winners.
There's no doubting the scoreboard from Stade de la Mosson and Tonga deserved their win too.
But in the bigger scheme of Pool A, Tonga's win will probably leave England in a position of strength their broken souls will be quite delighted to accept.
The expectation from the earliest days of the draw being made has been that Samoa and England are playing for second place. South Africa, so the theory went, would cruise to first place, and neither Tonga nor the United States would have quite enough fire to make the playoffs.
The Boks have played according to expectation but Tonga have thrown a spanner in the works by beating Samoa and dramatically changing the dynamics of the group.
The result in Montpellier means the Samoa-England match on Sunday is no longer the pivotal encounter. The Samoans could win and they will still be reliant on results going their way elsewhere.
Seen through England's eyes, it now means even if they lose to Samoa, they will probably still qualify if they and South Africa both beat Tonga.
And surely the defending champions will beat Tonga? Well, there now has to be some debate about that after Tonga brought structure and organisation and married it so effectively with their aggression.
The ball-carrying power of players such as Finau Maka and Aleki Latui will trouble any side and the snaffling work of Nili Latu is as good as any other openside's in the competition.
Defeated Samoan coach Michael Jones said he had never seen a Tongan side play as well as they did. "I have never seen them in that mood. There is no reason they can't cause an upset if they catch England on a bad day and they play like they did today."
The Tongans were making no apologies for their direct, confrontational approach that had two men yellow-carded and Highlanders loose forward Hale T-Pole sent off.
Physical is how the Tongans like it and their attitude to this competition was revealed by Latu. Speaking after the game the skipper reprised his pre-match speech: "Let's go out there and be prepared to die. That's how much it meant to us."
