 | This article needs to be updated.(October 2023) |
This is a history of the Tonga national rugby league team.
| This article needs to be updated.(October 2023) |
This is a history of the Tonga national rugby league team.
Rugby league first gained attention in Tonga when the Pacific Cup competition would be partially held in the country during 1986. After this initial exposure to the Tongan people several clubs began to form or switch from rugby union to rugby league and by 1988 the nation had enough depth in their player pool to begin playing national fixtures and would decide to enter the 1988 Pacific Cup competition held in neighbouring Samoa in their capital Apia.
During that Pacific Cup the Tongans would play in three fixtures winning a sole match against the American Samoans 38-14 that would double as their first international victory; the team would however fail to win their other two matches against Western Samoa 40-30 and the New Zealand Maori 42–16.
Over the next two years the national side sporadically played international fixtures but it would not be until the 1992 Pacific Cup when they would again begin playing with some regularity. At the 1992 Cup competition the side would show significant improvement on their previous inaugural cup effort with victories over Niue, Cook Islands, Fiji and the New Zealand Maori. [1] This run of victories would earn them a place in the final of the 1992 Pacific Cup against the Western Samoan side but they would eventually lose a close fought match by four points 18–14. The following tournament two years later would see the Tongan side show further improvement with several comfortable victories again earning them a spot in final of the Pacific Cup this time against the Fijians who had never defeated the Tongans at that time. The final would be a tough affair but the Mate Ma'a would again be victorious over Fiji 34-11 and would claim their maiden Pacific Cup title.
During 1995 Tonga qualified for their first World Cup that year and were seeded in the strong group B with both New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. While Tonga failed to win a match at the World Cup they earned copious amounts of respect after they only narrowly lost to the New Zealand team by a single point and earn a draw against Papua New Guinea.
The next four years saw the Tongan side appear in a further Pacific Cup in 1997 and then qualify for the 2000 World Cup with comfortable victories over the Cook Islands, Tokelau and American Samoa. Prior to appearing at the 2000 competition the Tongans arranged a friendly fixture against the New Zealand side that they had come so close to defeating during the previous World Cup but this time sustained their heaviest defeat to date going down 74-0 and suffering a large dent in confidence prior to the competition.
After the heavy defeat to New Zealand their next international fixture would be during their second World Cup where the Tongans would again be placed in another tough group with France, Papua New Guinea again and the South Africans. Tonga would face South Africa in their first match of the tournament where they would be comfortable victors in a 66-18 drubbing, [2] however the rest of the tournament would not be so kind to the Tongan side with losses to both France [3] and Papua New Guinea [4] meaning the Tongans would again fail to make it past the first stage of the tournament.
With a disappointing World Cup behind them the Mate Ma'a regrouped and again entered the Pacific Cup four years later in 2004. The tournament saw the Tongans again qualify for the tournament final with victories over both the Cook Islands and Fiji but the side would suffer a heavy defeat at the hands of neighbouring Samoa 51–18. 2006 saw the Tongan side re-enter the Pacific Cup where again they performed strongly qualifying for their second consecutive final where this time they reversed their previous effort with a strong victory over Fiji 22-4 [5] giving them their second Pacific Cup title.
2006 would continue to be a busy year of international fixtures for the Tongans which saw them gain qualification into the 2008 World Cup [6] after they would finish top of their Pacific group ahead of the Cook Islands, [7] Fiji and Samoa and then defeat the Samoans 18–10 in the qualifying final. They would also enter the inaugural Federation Shield competition along with England, France and Samoa [8] and eventually finish second [9] to the English in a tough final which would eventually end 32-14 and saw several Tongan players sin binned. [10] During the tournament they also achieved a good victory over neighbouring Samoa and a surprising victory over the French [11] that also saw them take their fourth place world ranking.
The Tongan war cry, the Sipi Tau [12] is accompanied by a traditional dance similar in style to the New Zealand Haka.
Mate Ma'a Tonga War Cry
Hii
Mate Ma'a Tonga War Cry (FULL)
The kailao is a cultural dance from the South Pacific country of Tonga. It originates from Wallis and Futuna.
The Samoa national rugby union team represents the Samoa Rugby Union in men's international rugby union. They are also known as "Manu Samoa", which is thought to derive from the name of a Samoan warrior. They perform a traditional Samoan challenge called the siva tau before each game. Samoa Rugby Union were formerly members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Tonga. They are ranked 11th in the world.
The Tonga national rugby union team represents the Tonga Rugby Union in men's international rugby union. The team is nicknamed ʻIkale Tahi . Like their Polynesian neighbours, the Tongans start their matches with a traditional challenge – the Sipi Tau. They are members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Samoa. The Ikale Tahi achieved a historic 19–14 victory over France in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, but having lost to New Zealand and Canada, were unable to achieve what would have been their first-ever presence at the quarter-finals.
The Tonga Rugby Union is the governing body of the sport of rugby union in Tonga. They are members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Samoa. There is a rugby union playing population of fewer than 800 out of a total population of 100,000.
The Tonga national rugby league team represents Tonga in rugby league football. They are currently the fifth ranked team in the world. The team was formed to compete in the 1986 Pacific Cup, and have competed at six Rugby League World Cups, starting in 1995 and continuing consecutively until the most recent tournament. Their best result was at the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, where they were semi-finalists.
The Cook Islands national rugby league team have represented the Cook Islands in international rugby league football since 1986. Administered by the Cook Islands Rugby League Association (CIRLA), the team has competed at three Rugby League World Cups, in 2000, 2013 and 2021, and are coached by Karmichael Hunt.
The Fiji national rugby league team, nicknamed the Bati, has been participating in international rugby league football since 1992. The team is controlled by the governing body for rugby league in Fiji, Fiji National Rugby League (FNRL), which is currently a member of the Asia-Pacific Rugby League Confederation (APRLC). Fiji have thrice reached the semi-finals of the Rugby League World Cup, in 2008, 2013 and 2017, and are currently ranked 6th in the International Rugby League's World Rankings. They are coached by Fijian Wise Kativerata, and their captain is Kevin Naiqama.
The Samoa national rugby league team represents Samoa in rugby league football and has participated in international competition since 1986. Known as Western Samoa before 1997, the team is administered by Rugby League Samoa and are nicknamed Toa Samoa.
The 2004 Pacific Rim Championship and the 2004 Pacific Cup was the 9th Pacific Cup, a rugby league tournament held between Pacific teams. The tournament was hosted in Auckland and for the first time split into two competitions; The Pacific Rim Championship between national teams and the Pacific Cup between Auckland-based selections. In the final of the Pacific Rim competition the Cook Islands defeated New Zealand Māori 46-6 while Samoa XIII defeated Tonga XIII 52–18 to win the Pacific Cup.
The Pacific Nations Cup is an international rugby union competition held between three Pacific states: Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. The 2019 edition of the tournament also included the national teams of Canada, Japan and United States. First held in 2006, the tournament is intended to strengthen the Tier 2 rugby teams by providing competitive test matches in a tournament format.
The World Rugby Pacific Challenge, formerly the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup, is an annual rugby union football tournament held in Oceania since 2006. It is contested by national 'A' teams from the Asia-Pacific region. The tournament is run by World Rugby through Oceania Rugby.
Rugby union is the national sport of Tonga. Tonga are considered to be a tier 2 rugby nation by the International Rugby Board.
Pierre Hola is an Australian-born former rugby union footballer. He represented Tonga and played club rugby in the Australian Shute Shield for Eastwood.
Rugby union is the national sport in Tonga. Sumo has a following, while football, judo, surfing, volleyball, and cricket have gained popularity in recent years. Rugby league and Australian football are also played.
The 2009 Pacific Cup, known as the 2009 SP Brewery Pacific Cup due to sponsorship, was a rugby league competition held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The competing teams were the Cook Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga.
The 2006 Pacific Cup was the 10th Pacific Cup, a rugby league tournament held between Pacific teams. The tournament was hosted in Auckland and eventually won by Tonga, who defeated Fiji in the final. Fiji's Asaeli Saravaki was the Player of the Tournament.
Tuimoala Lolohea is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a stand-off or fullback for the Huddersfield Giants in the Betfred Super League. He has played for both New Zealand and Tonga at international level.
The Tonga women's national rugby league team, is under the former governing body TNRL. The first Tonga women's team was in 2003 and known as the Mate Ma'a Tonga women's team administered by the Tonga National Rugby League (TNRL) body. The newly formed Tonga women's national rugby league incorporated is under the Tongan Government with the national men's team. TNRL are no longer the national administrating body for Tonga Rugby League.
The 2017 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup was the twelfth edition of the Pacific Nations Cup annual international rugby union tournament. The 2017 title was contested solely by the Pacific nations of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.
The 2015 Pacific Rugby League International was split into two games. The first was the Melanesian Cup between Papua New Guinea and Fiji. The second was the Polynesian Cup between Samoa and Tonga.
