Tonga lead the USA 13-10 at halftime of their 2011 Churchill Cup match. For much of the half the USA played quite poorly, and were unable to get or retain much possession.

Flyhalf Kurt Morath kicked an early penalty for Tonga but missed two others. Nese Malifa also missed a penalty kick for the USA.

The USA gave up a ton of silly penalties and were burned for one, was wing Viliami Iongi scored to make it 10-0. Malifa hit a penalty to make it 10-3 and then Morath made it 13-3.

After Tonga prop Tonga Lea'aetoa was harshly yellow-carded for a high tackle, the USA finally got something going. Chris Biller forced a turnover in the tackle allowed Lou Stanfill to go on a big run, and after a couple more phases, Roland Suniula fed Paul Emerick for the try. 

Scott LaValla, easily the best USA player in the first half, almost scored at the end of the half but the ball was knocked out of his hand. LaValla said a bad word in frustration.

At 40 minutes: Tonga 13 USA 10.