IN THE CAPITAL city of Nukuʻalofa on the north coast of Tongatapu island, Tonga get their World Cup preparations truly up and running in the wee hours of tomorrow morning Irish time.
The ʻIkale Tahi - the Sea Eagles – will be part of Pool B in France, meaning they face Andy Farrell’s Ireland in their opening game.
So when Farrell and his coaches wake tomorrow, they will be interested to find out how things went for the Tongans against a strong Australia A team in their first warm-up game.
The Aussies have included Test stars like tighthead prop Taniela Tupou, who is a native of Tonga, out-half Bernard Foley, centre James O’Connor, lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, and hooker Folau Fainga’a, who has strong Tongan heritage.
Clearly, senior Wallabies boss Eddie Jones is keen for tomorrow’s game to give players a chance to impress or build fitness for the World Cup, while emerging prospects like the rapid Corey Toole and Josh Flook are also involved.
Meanwhile, Tonga head coach Toutai Kefu – a former Wallaby himself – has included some of his own big names to start against Australia A, with another strong new addition in the shape of Toulouse centre Pita Ahki.
Ahki was born in Auckland and previously played for the New Zealand 7s but World Rugby’s changed eligibility rules mean he can now represent Tonga, who he qualifies for through his family. This won’t be Ahki’s first time wearing a Tonga jersey, having played for their U20s back in 2011.
Tomorrow, Ahki is part of a backline that also includes former All Blacks centre Malakai Fekitoa and fullback Charles Piutau, as well as ex-Wallabies fullback Israel Folau, who starts on the right wing.
There’s another former All Black in the pack, with the explosive Vaea Fifita starting at number eight. The rest of the Tongan pack for tomorrow is huge, with tighthead prop Ben Tameifuna offering over 140kg of mass.
Fifita, Piutau, Folua, and Fekitoa – who has joined Benetton from Munster this summer – - all made their Tonga debuts last year, so Ahki is simply the latest player following a trend that has benefited the Tongans and Samoa in particular, though South Africa have also taken advantage of the eligibility change by capping Jean Kleyn last weekend.
Ex-All Blacks scrum-half Augustine Pulu and centre George Moala also switched to Tonga last year, as did ex-Australia forward Lopeti Timani, while another former Wallabies lock Adam Coleman has now pledged his allegiance. These are strong reinforcements.
Does this all guarantee that Tonga will be a force for the World Cup? Of course not. There are still obvious weaknesses in their squad, including at out-half, where William Havili continues tomorrow having started at fullback all year for Moana Pasifika in Super Rugby.
Last summer, the Tongans had a poor Pacific Nations Cup despite some of the aforementioned additions. They lost to Australia A and Samoa before being hammered 36-0 by Fiji. In fairness, it was never likely that a new-look team would simply settle into its stride straight away.
Last November, Kefu’s men were better as they recorded wins over Spain, Chile, and Uruguay. Not exactly elite nations, but Chile and Uruguay are both heading to the World Cup too.
Tonga won’t face any of the world’s best in their build-up to the tournament but they do at least have a good run of matches in which they can develop cohesion and confidence.
After facing Australia A tomorrow, they will have a chance for revenge against Fiji on 22 July, a clash with Japan on 29 July, then a game against Samoa on 5 August.
After that, the Tongans will host Canada in a two-game series, with Tests on 10 and 15 August, giving Kefu plenty of scope to get game time into combinations for the World Cup or do any experimenting he needs to do.
They’ll have a long wait until their opening World Cup game, which is against Ireland. The Tongans don’t feature on the opening weekend of the tournament so will only make their bow on Saturday 16 September against Farrell’s men in Nantes.
They face Scotland the following weekend, then South Africa, and conclude their pool campaign against Romania.
Tonga have played in every World Cup apart from the 1991 edition, with their best performance coming in 2011 when they beat eventual runners-up France and Japan but still missed out on the quarter-finals.
They also won two pool games in 2007, beating the US and Samoa, so there’s a clear target to surpass. Despite their high-profile additions, the ʻIkale Tahi remain outsiders in Pool B, but there’s no doubt they will have strong ambitions.
There’s obviously a cautionary tale for Ireland from the last World Cup, where hosts Japan shocked them and then beat Scotland too. The IRFU’s review into that campaign concluded that Ireland had underestimated the Brave Blossoms.
While Tonga won’t have had the incredibly detailed, well-resourced, and long-term build-up to this World Cup that Japan had last time, there’s no doubt that they must be respected. Their journey begins in earnest in Nukuʻalofa tomorrow.
