Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about 750 km2 (290 sq mi), scattered over 700,000 km2 (270,000 sq mi) in the southern Pacific Ocean. As of 2021, according to Johnson's Tribune, Tonga has a population of 104,494, 70% of whom reside on the main island, Tongatapu. The country stretches approximately 800 km (500 mi) north-south. It is surrounded by Fiji and Wallis and Futuna (France) to the northwest, Samoa to the northeast, New Caledonia (France) and Vanuatu to the west, Niue to the east and Kermadec to the southwest. Tonga is about 1,800 km (1,100 mi) from New Zealand's North Island.
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 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 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.
Rodger Siaosi Toutai Kefu is a Tongan-Australian professional rugby union coach and former player who has been coaching the Tonga national team since 2016.
Rugby union in Samoa is the country's most popular sport. The national teams in both the standard 15-man game and rugby sevens are consistently competitive against teams from vastly more populous nations.
Rugby union is the national sport of Tonga. Tonga are considered to be a tier 2 rugby nation by the International Rugby Board.
Rugby union in Fiji is a popular team sport and is considered to be the national sport of the country. The sport was introduced to Fiji in the 1880s. Fiji is defined as a tier two rugby nation by World Rugby. The national team has competed at the Rugby World Cup and made it as far as the quarter-finals. Their sevens team is also noted for their success, winning multiple Olympic gold medals, World Rugby Sevens Series and Rugby World Cup Sevens.
The Samoa national rugby sevens team, referred to as Samoa Sevens or Manu Samoa 7s, competes in the annual World Rugby Sevens Series. Representing the polynesian country of Samoa, with a population of about 202,000, the team competes against some of the wealthiest countries in the world. The Samoa sevens team is overseen by the Samoa Rugby Football Union, which oversees all of rugby union in Samoa.
The Tonga national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series. Tonga has participated in all but one of the Rugby World Cup Sevens tournaments.
Rugby union in Asia is governed by the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU). As of December 2009 there are 28 ARFU member unions, of whom 15 are full members of World Rugby, and six further associate members of World Rugby in Asia. The flagship tournament for promoting the sport in Asia is the Asian Five Nations, which launched in 2008, and which most recently in 2011 saw the national teams of Hong Kong, Japan, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka and the UAE, compete in the main tournament.
Tautahi Gold is a former Tongan rugby union team that played in the Pacific Rugby Cup from 2006 to 2010. The other Tongan team in the Cup was Tau'uta Reds. The team's name is from the Tautahi, which was Tonga's traditional Navy Army. Gold was chosen as the team's colour from the Sun which Tongans use as their navigational compass.
Sport in Tonga consists of many games. Rugby union is the national sport, 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 Tonga women's national rugby union team are a national sporting side of Tonga, representing them at rugby union. They compete annually in the Oceania Rugby Women's Championship.
Rugby union in Wallis and Futuna is a popular sport within the French overseas territory.
Jack Ram is a Tongan professional rugby union footballer. He plays for New England Free Jacks of Major League Rugby (MLR).
The Papua New Guinea women's national rugby union team played their first international against Fiji in 2016. They compete annually in the Oceania Rugby Women's Championship, and have not qualified for the Rugby World Cup as yet.
The 2019 Oceania Rugby Women's Championship that was held in Fiji, was the 2021 Rugby World Cup qualifier for the Oceania region. The tournament was played at Churchill Park in Lautoka from 18 to 30 November 2019, with six teams entered. Australia and New Zealand sent development teams, having already qualified for the 2021 World Cup.
Tonga competed at the 2022 Commonwealth Games at Birmingham, England from 28 July to 8 August 2022. Tonga made its eleventh attendance at the Games.
