KEY POINTS:
Tonga coach Jim Dymock is demanding his team smarten their discipline and execution for Friday's crucial rugby league World Cup clash with traditional rivals Samoa.
The favoured Tongans narrowly avoided suffering the tournament's first major shock defeat when they scraped past unheralded Ireland 22-20 at Parramatta Stadium on
Monday night.
They prevailed despite playing a quarter of the match with just 12 men, after winger Esi Tonga and star five-eighth Feleti Mateo were sinbinned.
The clash with Samoa at Penrith's CUA Stadium looms as a potential group decider, with only the pool winner advancing to the next stage.
Samoa, who finished above Tonga at both the 1995 and 2000 World Cups, will be playing their first match of the tournament.
Like Tonga, Samoa have a host of NRL and Super League players on their roster.
Dymock was under no illusions about the task and the need for his team to eliminate "silly mistakes" which marred their performance on Monday night.
"It [Friday's match] is going to be a big task for us," Dymock said. "Hopefully, our boys can learn from this game and we will be better for the run, we've got a quick turnaround.
"I think we need a bit of patience, that comes from experience, but the majority of them play in the NRL, so you expect a lot more from them."
Mateo was binned for backchatting following repeated infringements by his team in the ruck area.
"A couple of interpretations are different to what we are used to, but it's really up to us to maintain our discipline and show respect to the referee," Dymock said. "I don't want anyone backchatting to the ref."
Tongan officials expressed happiness with the NSW Supreme Court ruling which allows their NRL stars Fuifui Moimoi and Taniela Tuiaki to represent the team if they make the semifinals.
While they have both previously played for Tonga, they were each initially ruled ineligible for the World Cup as they had also turned out for New Zealand just last year and players can only transfer between countries once every two years.
"We're happy that Fuifui and Taniela are coming to camp, because they are a positive influence on the boys," Tonga team manager William Edwards said.
"The main objective was to get the boys on board. We would have liked to have had them earlier, but to have them there is a real positive for us."
Dymock said he had not been thinking about the court proceedings and had left it to the Tongan rugby league to "sort that out".
He had a couple of injury niggles to mull over following Monday night's game. Halfback Joel Taufa'ao (calf) and hooker Kimi Uasi (ribs) both suffered knocks, while second-rower Awen Guttenbeil was a late withdrawal with a knee problem.
Ireland's prospects of advancing from the pool will now hinge on Samoa beating Tonga.
Samoa named a strong side last night, to be captained by former Kiwi Nigel Vagana.
- AAP