Tonga national rugby sevens team

Last updated
Tonga
Union Tonga Rugby Football Union
Nickname(s)'Ikale Tahi
Coach(es)Tevita Tu'ifua
Captain(s)Fautasi Mau
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Team kit
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Change kit
World Cup Sevens
Appearances7 (First in 1993 )
Best result7th (1993)
Team Tonga at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Men's rugby sevens at the 2022 Commonwealth Games - Tonga vs Zambia 193100.jpg
Team Tonga at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

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.

Contents

World Rugby Sevens Series

2008–09 IRB Sevens World Series

Tonga have participated in only a few rounds of the World Rugby Sevens Series so far. They managed the bowl final in their first round of this series in Wellington, they won 24–56 over Cook Islands.

2009 Wellington Sevens

Tonga were in pool "A" along with Scotland, South Africa and Kenya for the Wellington round of the IRB World Sevens Series.

StagesTeamPtsTeam
1Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 21–35Flag of Tonga.svg  Tonga
2Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 22–65Flag of Tonga.svg  Tonga
3Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland 15–21Flag of Tonga.svg  Tonga
1/4 final bowlFlag of Niue.svg  Niue 0–21Flag of Tonga.svg  Tonga
Semi-final bowlFlag of France.svg  France 5–28Flag of Tonga.svg  Tonga
Final bowlFlag of the Cook Islands.svg  Cook Islands 24–56Flag of Tonga.svg  Tonga

2015 Hong Kong Sevens

Tonga played in the World Series Qualifier in the 2015 Hong Kong Sevens. They only managed one win against Guyana 7s. [1]

Challenger Series

Tonga have participated in the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series, the competition to gain promotion to the World Rugby Sevens Series. They finished 6th in 2020 and 7th in 2022, failing to gain promotion.

Tonga finished first in the 2023 Challenger Series, thereby gaining entry to the London Sevens core team qualifier for the 2023–24 season. [2] They also competed in the 2024 Challenger Series; the first round was held in Dubai where they finished sixth. [3] [4] They ended the Challenger Series in seventh place overall. [5]

Tournament history

Rugby World Cup Sevens

World Cup record
YearRoundPositionPldWLD
Flag of Scotland.svg 1993 Quarterfinalists7th8440
Flag of Hong Kong 1959.svg 1997 Plate Winners9th7520
Flag of Argentina.svg 2001 Did not qualify
Flag of Hong Kong.svg 2005 Bowl Semifinalists19th6250
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg 2009 Plate Semifinalists11th5320
Flag of Russia.svg 2013 Plate Quarterfinalists13th4130
Flag of the United States.svg 2018 21st Place Final22nd4130
Flag of South Africa.svg 2022 19th Place Final20th4130
Total0 Titles7/83817220

Tonga's first appearance was at the 1993 Rugby World Cup Sevens held in Scotland. They finished at the top of their pool and progressed to the finals with four wins and a loss to the hosts. [6] The quarter finals were another round robin with teams split into two pools. Tonga lost all their games and finished in seventh place overall.

The 1997 Rugby World Cup Sevens was held in the mecca of sevens rugby Hong Kong. The tournament was played over three days. Day 1 and 2 had a total of eight pools with three teams per pool. Teams were seeded at the end of Day 1 and assigned to their various pools for Day 2. Tonga had a win against Japan and a loss to New Zealand. [7]

Tonga's pool on Day 2 was a repeat of Day 1 with Japan and New Zealand being pooled together with them. Day 2 yielded the same results as the previous day. They were placed in the Plate quarterfinals and recorded wins against Wales, the Cook Islands and the hosts, Hong Kong to win the Plate and finish in ninth place.

The 2001 Rugby World Cup Sevens was held in Argentina. Tonga did not qualify.

Hong Kong hosted the Sevens World Cup in 2005 for a second time. Tonga finished at the bottom of their pool [8] and ended up in the Bowl quarterfinals where they defeated Chinese Taipei 28 – 19. They lost to Canada in the semi-finals 7 – 0 and finished in their lowest rankings at a World Cup in 19th place.

Tonga qualified for the 2009 World Cup in the Oceania region. The United Arab Emirates were the hosts for the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens. They were in Pool A and played against Arabian Gulf 7s, Italy 7s and New Zealand 7s. Tonga were second in their pool with two wins and a loss. [9] They made it to the Plate quarterfinals and beat Tunisia 24 – 7. However, they lost to Australia in the semis 22 – 19. They finished in eleventh place overall.

Russia were the hosts for the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens. Tonga won over Uruguay and advanced to the Plate quarterfinals from their pool. [10] They lost to Canada 26 – 0 and finished in 13th place.

Olympics

Olympic Games record
YearRoundPositionPldWLD
Flag of Brazil.svg 2016 Did not qualify
Flag of Japan.svg 2020 Did not qualify
Flag of France.svg 2024 To be determined
Total0/00000

Tonga finished second behind Australia at the 2015 Oceania Sevens Championship, and thus failed to advance to the 2016 Summer Olympics. Tonga also played in the 2019 Oceania Sevens Championship, but failed to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games record
YearRoundPositionPldWLD
Flag of Malaysia.svg 1998 Plate Semifinalists11th6330
Flag of England.svg 2002 Bowl Finalists10th6330
Flag of Australia (converted).svg 2006 Bowl Finalists10th6330
Flag of India.svg 2010 Bowl Semifinalists11th5230
Flag of Scotland.svg 2014 Did not qualify
Flag of Australia (converted).svg 2018
Flag of England.svg 2022 9th–12th Place Semi-finals=11th5230
Total0 Titles5/72813150

Pacific Games

Pacific Games
YearRoundPositionPldWDL
Flag of Guam.svg 1999 Did Not Compete
Flag of Fiji.svg 2003 Bronze Final4th6204
Flag of Samoa.svg 2007 Did Not Compete
Flags of New Caledonia.svg 2011
Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg 2015 Bronze FinalBronze medal icon.svg7502
Flag of Samoa.svg 2019 Bronze FinalBronze medal icon.svg5410
Flag of the Solomon Islands.svg 2023 Bronze FinalBronze medal icon.svg5401
Total0 Titles4/7231517

Oceania Sevens

Oceania Sevens
YearRoundPositionPldWDL
Flag of Samoa.svg 2008 Cup FinalSilver medal icon.svg5401
Flag of French Polynesia.svg 2009 Cup FinalSilver medal icon.svg8602
Flag of Australia (converted).svg 2010 Bronze FinalBronze medal icon.svg6402
Flag of Samoa.svg 2011 Bronze FinalBronze medal icon.svg7412
Flag of Australia (converted).svg 2012 Bronze FinalBronze medal icon.svg6303
Flag of Fiji.svg 2013 Did Not Compete
Flag of Australia (converted).svg 2014 Plate Final6th6204
Flag of New Zealand.svg 2015 Cup FinalSilver medal icon.svg6402
Flag of Fiji.svg 2016 5th Place Playoff5th6402
Flag of Fiji.svg 2017 [a] 7th4103
Flag of Fiji.svg 2018 5th Place Playoff5th6402
Flag of Fiji.svg 2019 5th Place Playoff5th5401
Flag of Australia (converted).svg 2021 Did Not Compete
Flag of New Zealand.svg 2022 Round-robin4th6006
Flag of New Zealand.svg 2022 Round-robinGold medal icon.svg5005
Flag of Australia (converted).svg 2023 5th Place Playoff5th5401
Total0 Titles14/168144136

Players

Squad for the 2024 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in Dubai. [11]

No.Players
1 Sione Tupou
3Siaosi Huihui
4Semisi Ma'asi
6Tevita Eukaliti
7Sioeli Filimoehala
9John Ika
10Atieli Pakalani
20Sione Lemek
22Tali Finau
29Potolaka Ma'ake
73Walter Fifita
77Bray Taumoefolau

Notable players

Notes

  1. Due to adverse weather conditions affecting the schedule of games, all classification finals except the fifth-place playoff and Championship Final were cancelled. The fifth-place match was played because of qualification implications.

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References

  1. worldrugby.org (23 January 2015). "Teams confirmed for Hong Kong Sevens" . Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  2. "Tonga 7s qualifies for HSBC Sevens Series in London". Matangi Tonga. 2 May 2023. Archived from the original on 17 May 2023.
  3. "Sevens captains ready for the challenge in Dubai". www.world.rugby. 2024-01-10. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  4. "China and Kenya celebrate Challenger 2024 success in Dubai". www.world.rugby. 2024-01-14. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  5. "Uruguay, Kenya, Chile and Germany qualify for men's HSBC SVNS Play-Off in Madrid". www.world.rugby. 2024-05-19. Retrieved 2024-05-31.
  6. World Rugby.org. "1993 Rugby World Cup Sevens" . Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  7. World Rugby.org. "1997 Rugby World Cup Sevens" . Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  8. World Rugby.org. "2005 Rugby World Cup Sevens" . Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  9. World Rugby.org. "2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens" . Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  10. World Rugby.org. "2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens" . Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  11. "2024 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series squad list" (PDF). World Rugby. p. 10. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  12. "Malakai Fekitoa to captain Tonga 7s". RNZ. 2021-06-18. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  13. "Samoa, Tonga fail to qualify for Olympic sevens". 1 News . Retrieved 21 October 2021.