At first glance, any neutral fan would see a completely out-classed Tongan side against the best team in the history of rugby union. Yet, all is not as it seems...
New Zealand comprehensively thrashed Tonga by a centurion margin yesterday, scoring 16 tries in 80 minutes. Tonga were missing 20 players that would usually play in the professional game, leading to Tonga resorting to starting amateur players against some of the best players in the world.
New Zealand had 4 new debutants against the pacific islanders, with Will Jordan stealing the show as he scored 5 tries, a gargantuan performance from the Christchurch man. The match in Auckland was still heavily celebrated by the Tongan away fans, who were seen still cheering for their side as they experienced a good-old-fashioned thumping.
My Side, Flipped.
Truly, what is the point of a game like this? Rugby Union has only been a professional game since 1999, meaning the marketing of the game is still in its early stages. As a sport, we are meant to be advertising attractive competitive rugby that neutral fans and new fans alike can enjoy and become invested in. Granted, the Tongan side were unable to play most of their players because some of them are in the Northern Hemisphere for training with clubs, or for injury reasons. However, a score line like this highlights the problem with the lopsided selection pool that both smaller nations suffer from and larger, richer nations are able to benefit from. It's no secret that nations like England, Wales, New Zealand and Australia (to name a few) have been poaching pacific island players by encouraging them to move to their countries for high-level training and facilities that pacific island nations can not promise. This is an integral issue with the international rugby scene, as it promotes players leaving their nation-of-birth to play for a larger country, leading to a homogenisation of player talent for the above countries. This has to stop, and legislation must be put in place by World Rugby so that this cannot continue. Seilala Mapusua, a former London Irish and Samoan centre, has campaigned for World Rugby to change their stance on this problem, as it is reaching 'Boiling Point' as he describes it (Rugby 365, 2019). It is such a shame that the pacific island national teams aren't able to field the strongest side possible, because they are playing abroad. If they were never 'poached' as Mapusua describes it, then their teams would become infinitely more competitive against sides such as New Zealand. Instead, the average score for the New Zealand versus Tonga game is 70-7, which speaks volumes. Rugby Union needs to become more level in its competitiveness if it is to survive as a business model, especially to help engage the smaller nations.
Need to allow dual representation for Pacific Islanders who have played for tier 1 nations but are no longer selected. A step in the right direction because realistically they won’t change the residency rule because some of the players are Pacific Islanders but have spent the vast majority of their life in NZ or AUS but it would a improving the performances of Fiji, Tonga and Samoa - which will be met with further funding as they improve and the development of other pacific island players from playing and training alongside the likes Nonu and Kaino a few years ago when they left NZ or Charles Piutau now.