A blood-spattered Canada team captain Pat Riordan led the Maple Leafs to a comefrom-behind 25-20 victory over Tonga in a Group A matchup at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand Wednesday.
Playing with a strong wind at their back at Whangarei, N.Z., Canada scored first when lock forward Jebb Sinclair bowled over the line in the 13th minute.
The tough tackling Canadians held on to a 10-7 lead at halftime but fell behind 20-13 on Tongan Siale Piutau's second five-pointer of the game.
It was in the latter part of the second half that Canada played some of its best rugby.
The Canadians drew to withing a couple of points on No. 8 Aaron Carpenter's unconverted score in the 66th minute.
Six minutes later, centre Phil Mackenzie picked up a loose ball and scored his fourth try in four internationals on a short run to tally the game-winner.
"That was awesome," said Riordan, a Burnaby Lake Rugby Club product in an irb. com press release. "I'm so proud of the boys, the guts they showed."
Veteran B.C. second-row forward Jamie Cudmore led the Canucks with 23 of their 100 team tackles. Player of the game flanker Adam Kleeberger of Alberta was all over the pitch, making 14 tackles for the winners.
The win was Canada's third straight World Cup victory over Tonga.
Next up for Canada are the fifth-ranked French, scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 18.
