Tonga coach David Waterston claims his team is ready to take over where New Zealand left-off against England.
England will need to beat Tonga when the two sides meet Friday if they want to go into the World Cup play-off stages and Waterston is convinced he can pull off the upset of the tournament by beating them.
"England have different strengths and weaknesses. The England pack is like the All Blacks of old. We've looked at every single individual player and believe it or not we have a plan." said Waterston on the eve of his side's Sunday evening encounter against Italy.
But Waterston and Tongan officials are upset over the suspension of
fullback Siua Taumalolo for a high tackle on Jonah Lomu in Tonga's opening match against New Zealand.
Taumalolo has been banned for 21-days, ruling him out of Tonga's remaining group matches.
"Taumalolo is our best player and we have appealed against his suspension. There was no intent. He did not stiff-neck Lomu. In fact Lomu was barely scratched while our guy went flying," said Clive Edwards, chairman and acting president of the Tonga RFU.
"If the situation was reversed I don't think for one moment anything would have been done against New Zealand. In fact our right wing was high tackled by Lomu, went up in the air and landed on his backside. There was not even a warning because it was Lomu, the famous international player," complained Edwards.
Waterston supports the claims that the smaller sides are being picked on.
"It's a little bit odious the way the minor sides are being picked up. New Zealand are hit with a drugs scare and their explanation is accepted with alacrity. Our player commites one high tackle, is accused of three, and gets a 21-day suspension. There's no uniformity," said Waterston.