Tonga kept their hopes of reaching the Rugby World Cup knockout stages alive with a 35-21 bonus point win over Namibia in Pool C.

The Pacific Islanders ran in five tries in Exeter on Tuesday as they put their opening game defeat to Georgia behind them, with Telusa Veainu and Jack Ram both scoring twice.

While Namibia struggled defensively and were unable to stop their winless run growing to 17 matches at the World Cup, they enjoyed brief spells of pressure and ran in three scores of their own – a new national record in the competition.

It only took Tonga six minutes to break the deadlock against a vulnerable Namibia defence as Veainu – a late replacement for Fetu'u Vainikolo – scythed his way through, the wing rolling away from the tackle to score having been held up a metre short.

Vungakoto Lilo added the conversion, and they were not waiting long for another score as Ram barged his way to the line having made a break down the blind side.

Despite their dominance Tonga's game was still littered with mistakes, and after 16 minutes some sloppy play allowed Tjiuee Uanivi to race clear and set up Johan Tromp to score.

Theuns Kotze cut his side's deficit to five with the kick, but Tonga moved closer to a bonus point as a spectacular pick-up from Latiume Fosita extended their lead.

The fly-half was on the shoulder of hooker Aleki Lutui and grabbed the ball close to the line to score a third try, Lilo adding the extras before kicking a penalty to give Tonga a 22-7 half-time lead.

Veainu was denied a try just before the break due to his hand being in touch, but he quickly made up for it after the restart with a jinking run that ended with Ram crossing for his second try after 44 minutes – sealing the bonus point.

Not to be outdone, Namibia came charging back into the half as their forwards began to enjoy some success, and after a driving maul in the 49th minute captain Jacques Burger went over.

Veainu was not finished as he grabbed his second of the match just before the hour, before Burger scored Namibia's landmark try after another drive from a line-out.

Any hopes Namibia had of causing an upset were dashed with seven minutes to play as substitute Kurt Morath kicked a penalty to extend the lead to 14 points, the 30-year-old subsequently becoming Tonga's record points scorer.