Upset wins for Tonga and NZ at ITFF Tag Football World Cup

11 December 2012

For General Release:

Upset wins for Tonga and New Zealand at ITFF World Cup of Tag Football 2012

Beating the Australians at their own game is tough and only two non-Australian teams achieved it at the first ITFF World Cup of Tag Football 2012.

The New Zealand Open Mixed team beat Australia 11-6 and Tonga’s Ikale Tag 21s beat New Zealand 11- 7 in the finals held at North Harbour Stadium, Auckland.

Although Australia won the other 14 grades, the victories were claimed by the Australian Indigenous in the Mens 40s and the Mixed Seniors (Over 30s). The Australian Barbarians won the Mens 30s final. The New Zealand Open Mixed team was coached by West Aucklander Peter Paku and his wife Diane who made MVP presentations at the New Zealand prizegiving following the close of the World Cup. The game will be televised on Sky TV on the 17th December. Other matches televised by Sky over the summer are the NZ U16s, Open Men and Open Women finals.

Ikale Tag 21s pulled off an upset win against Australia in a nail biting 3-all draw at full time. Tonga secured its’ finals spot through sudden death because they were the first team to score in the game. In the NZ v Tonga final New Zealand’s defensive errors cost points and Ikale Tag’s superior attacking game saw them take the final 11-7. NZTFI Chair Darryl Bovaird said the wins by Ikale Tag 21s and New Zealand Open Mixed were historic and important for Tag Football and the inaugural World Cup. Although New Zealand teams made 9 of the 16 finals, teams lost close fought finals often by one or two points. “The gap’s closing between the different tag football nations and Australia. It’s taken us about 3 years under NZTFI to raise the level of competition of New Zealand players through the annual National competitions and regular Trans-Tasman competitions versus Australia.” The date and location of the next World Cup of Tag Football is yet to be confirmed. For all World Cup results and photos please see: http://www.nztagfootball.co.nz or www.internationaltagfootball.com

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ENDS

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