![]() 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. With a disappointing World Cup behind them the Mate Ma'a regrouped and again entered the Pacific Cup four years later in 2004. Tonga would face South Africa in their first match of the tournament where they would be comfortable victors in a 66-18 drubbing, however the rest of the tournament would not be so kind to the Tongan side with losses to both France and Papua New Guinea meaning the Tongans would again fail to make it past the first stage of the tournament. 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.Īfter 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. ![]() 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. 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 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.ĭuring 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. 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. 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. 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. ![]() 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. ![]() 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.ĭuring 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. ![]() Rugby league first gained attention in Tonga when the Pacific Cup competition would be partially held in the country during 1986. 7 Federation Shield, World Cup Qualification. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |