England 36 Tonga 20
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PARIS - Reigning champions England advanced into the quarter-finals of the World Cup with a 36-20 victory over Tonga in their winner-takes-all Pool A clash at the Parc des Princes here on Saturday.
They now face Australia, in a repeat of the 2003 final, for a place in the last four in Marseille on October 7.
England, who were 3-10 down early in the first-half, led 19-10 at the break thanks mainly to two Paul Sackey tries, the wing following up his double in last weekend's 44-22 win over Samoa.
Centre Mathew Tait and replacement back Andy Farrell, with his first England try, then crossed Tonga's line in the second-half.
Jonny Wilkinson kicked 16 points to leave the fly-half just five short of Scotland great Gavin Hastings's World Cup record of 227.
Even before kick-off the intensity of this match was made clear with England eyeballing their opponents as the Tongans went through their traditional pre-match challenge.
But it was the Pacific Islanders who took a ninth minute lead when first-five Pierre Hola kicked a 45 metre penalty after England wing Mark Cueto had held on in the tackle.
However, minutes later Tonga infringed and Wilkinson made no mistake with the easy chance to level the scores.
Tonga though deservedly scored the game's first try in the 17th minute.
Sukanaivalu Hufanga's searing break inside the 22 saw him brush aside tackles from Cueto and Sackey. Despite Olly Barkley doing his best to cling on, the outside centre went over for a try which Hola converted.
Tonga, thrashed 101-10 by England at Twickenham in the 1999 World Cup in the teams' only previous meeting, then saw their advantage cut within minutes when Wilkinson's cross-kick was held by the diving Sackey as he slid over the line.
Although Wilkinson missed the conversion from wide on the right, Tonga were now just 10-8 in front.
England, thanks to a poor Tonga clearance kick and a knock-on, then enjoyed a sustained spell of pressure in the underdogs' 22.
But they wasted scoring opportunities when hooker George Chuter knocked-on and Barkley missed a close-range drop-goal.
Wilkinson, whose drop-goal secured England's victory in the final four years ago, showed Barkley how it should be done with a 31st minute effort that put his side a point up.
England's next score came out of nothing when with Samoa just yards from the champions' line, Hola's pass was dropped by wing Tevita Tu'ifua.
Sackey collected the loose ball and ran the length of the field for a try which put England two scores in front even despite Wilkinson missing the difficult conversion.
Wilkinson, early in the second-half, was off-target with a penalty before Hola kicked one of his own to put Tonga within striking distance.
However England, in an open match, soon found themselves in Tonga's 22.
Although it seemed Cueto had botched a try-scoring chance by not passing, England did see Tait exploit an overlap out on the left in the 57th minute to score their third try.
This time Wilkinson added the extras and England had a comforting 26-13 lead heading into the final quarter.
Then former Great Britain rugby league captain Farrell went in under the posts against a tiring defence before Wilkinson's second drop-goal nudged England further in front.
Tonga, one of the surprise teams of this tournament, then saw flanker Hale T Pole cross in the corner in the dying seconds for a consolation try which Hola converted to make the score a true reflection of the Islanders' efforts.
- AFP
