Rugby league first gained attention in Tonga when the Pacific Cup was partially held in the country during 1986. 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 entered the 1988 Pacific Cup competition held in Apia, Samoa. During that Pacific Cup the Tongans played in three fixtures winning a sole match while losing the other two, with their first international victory coming against the American Samoa side a match that ended 38–14.

Over the next two years the national side sporadically played international fixtures but it was not until the 1992 Pacific Cup when they again began playing with some regularity. At the 1992 Cup competition the side showed significant improvement on their previous inaugural cup effort with victories over , Cook Islands, Fiji and the New Zealand Maori.^[1] This run of victories earned them a place in the final of the 1992 Pacific Cup against the Western Samoan side but they eventually lost a close fought match by four points 18–14. The following tournament two years later saw 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. The Mate Ma'a were again victorious over Fiji 34–11 and claimed their maiden Pacific Cup title.

During 1995 Tonga qualified for their first World Cup and were seeded in the strong group B with both New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. They narrowly lost to the New Zealand team by a single point and earned a draw against Papua New Guinea.

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 Cook Islands, Tokelau and American Samoa. Prior to appearing at the 2000 competition the Tongans arranged a friendly fixture against the New Zealand side but lost 74–0.

After the heavy defeat to New Zealand their next international fixture was during their second World Cup where the Tongans were again placed in a group with France, Papua New Guinea again, and South Africa. Tonga faced South Africa in their first match of the tournament where they won 66–18, however they lost to both France and Papua New Guinea meaning the Tongans again failed to make it past the first stage of the tournament.

The Pacific Cup saw the Tongans again qualify for the tournament final with victories over both the Cook Islands and Fiji but the side suffered defeat at the hands of neighbouring Samoa 51–18. 2006 saw the Tongan side re-enter the Pacific Cup where again they performed strongly qualifying for their second consecutive final where this time they reversed their previous effort with a strong victory over Fiji 22–4 giving them their second Pacific Cup title. 2006 continued to be a busy year of international fixtures for the Tongans which saw them gain qualification into the 2008 World Cup after they finished top of their Pacific group ahead of the Cook Islands, Fiji and Samoa and then defeat the Samoans 18–10 in the qualifying final. They also entered the inaugural Federation Shield competition along with England, France and Samoa and eventually finish second. England to face Tonga in League final to the English in the final 32–14 after they had defeated both France and Samoa.

In April 2013, Tonga took on Samoa in the '2013 Pacific Rugby League Test' at Penrith Stadium. The International was created as a World Cup warm-up match. Tonga beat Toa Samoans by 36–4.

Tonga automatically qualified for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup after participating in the 2008 tournament. They took on Scotland, Italy and the Cook Islands in the pool stage. In their first match they took on 'the Scots'. It was a tight and intense rugby league battle, but Scotland won 26–24. Tonga then went on and beat 'the Kukis', 22–16, and Italy, 16–0, but it wasn't enough. Scotland finished the group stage unbeaten, sealing their place in the quarter-final and ending Tonga's World Cup campaign in the process.

In May 2015, Tonga took on Samoa in the 2015 Polynesian Cup at Cbus Super Stadium. The International was part of a triple header which also included the Melanesian Cup, between Papua New Guinea and Fiji, and the Junior Kangaroos against the Junior Kiwis. Samoa beat Mate Ma'a Tonga to win the Polynesian Cup by 18–16.

In October 2015, Tonga took on the Cook Islands in the Asia-Pacific elimination play-off to determine which of the two Asia-Pacific nations qualified for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. After a tight first half, Mate Ma'a Tonga went on win the match scoring 16 points within the last 20 minutes of the game.

In May 2016, Tonga took on Samoa in the 2016 Polynesian Cup at Pirtek Stadium. The International was part of a triple header which also included the Melanesian Cup, between Papua New Guinea and Fiji, and the Junior Kangaroos against the Junior Kiwis. The match resulted in a 12-point defeat to Samoa in the 2016 Polynesian Cup.

Tonga fielded its strongest ever team at the 2017 World Cup after Jason Taumalolo and Andrew Fifita chose to represent their Tongan heritage rather than their respective birthplaces, New Zealand and Australia. At the time, they were considered to be among the best forwards in the world.^[2][3] Both players cited a desire to honour family and strengthen the Tongan team as motivating factors for their defections, while Taumalolo's relationship with Tonga head coach Kristian Woolf was also acknowledged.^[4][a]

In addition, Manu Maʻu declined a likely position in the New Zealand squad,^[6] while David Fusitu'a, Solomone Kata, Tuimoala Lolohea, and Sio Siua Taukeiaho dismissed any possibility of a New Zealand re-call in order to represent Tonga.^[7][8] Michael Jennings also committed himself to Tonga after declining an opportunity to represent Fiji.^[9]

Tonga quickly became the most heavily backed team in the World Cup, dropping from $81 odds to $17.^[3] Entering into the tournament as the 11th ranked team in the world, Tonga comfortably won their opening two group matches, outclassing Scotland 50–4^[10] and Samoa 32–18.^[11] In their third and final group match, Tonga upset New Zealand 28–22 after trailing 16–2 at half-time. This marked the first time since the introduction of the tiered-nation system that a tier-two team defeated a tier-one team,^[12][13] and the first time since Wales defeated England 18–16 in 1995 if applied retroactively.^[14] Tonga beat Lebanon 24–22 in a hard-fought quarter-final,^[15] and then lost 18–20 to England in the semi-final. England were leading 20–0 with 8 minutes remaining until Tonga scored three tries in quick succession, however, a contentious refereeing decision in the last seconds of the game denied them scoring a fourth try and progressing to the World Cup final.^[16][17]

Playing for the Kangaroos is the pinnacle in rugby league. If you make that team, you’re up there with the best in the world in your position... But it’s a very different feeling playing for Tonga. There’s more emotion in the Tongan jersey. You know what your family has been through and you think about them every time you put it on.

— Michael Jennings, AthletesVoice^[18]

After Tonga's semi-final against England, which was attended by King Tupou VI, 29 November 2018 was declared a public holiday in Tonga as Mate Ma'a Tonga Day and the entire Tongan squad was invited to the Royal Palace. Every player was honoured as Knight Commander of the Most Illustrious Order of Queen Sālote Tupou III^[19][20] for their contribution to sports.^{[21][22][23][24]} At the conclusion of the tournament, Tonga jumped to 4th in the RLIF world rankings.^[25][26]

After the tournament, several players^[b] publicly reaffirmed their allegiance to the Tongan team as the media speculated whether they would return to their tier-one nations, assuming they were to be welcomed back.^[34] Addin Fonua-Blake also announced his intention to represent Tonga after playing for New Zealand at the World Cup,^[35] commenting "I really enjoyed my time with the Kiwis but it just didn't feel like home."^[36] As a consequence, New Zealand's squad for their match against England on 24 June 2018 contained just one Tongan-eligible player, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, who reportedly pledged his loyalty to the Kiwis to honour his great-grandfather Puti Tipene Watene, the first Māori to captain the side.^[37]

Tonga faced Australia for the first time ever on 20 October 2018, losing 34–16.^[38]

On 22 June 2019, Tonga faced New Zealand again at Mount Smart Stadium as part of the 2019 Oceania Cup. The Kiwis won 34–14 in a dominant display. After the NRL season ended, Tonga played against the touring Great Britain on 26 October, winning 14–6 at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton. This was Great Britain's first match after a twelve-year hiatus.^[39] The following week at Auckland's Eden Park, Tonga faced the Australia in an Oceania Cup match. Tonga stunned the world number one nation, winning 16–12, their best win in their history.^[40]

This match was labelled one of the greatest upsets in rugby league history, marking the first time Australia had lost to a tier 2 nation since 1978.^[41] Jason Taumalolo rated the win above his 2015 NRL Grand Final victory with the North Queensland Cowboys.^[42]

Tonga competed at the 2021 Rugby League World Cup in England, having qualified automatically as semi-finalists of the 2017 tournament. The tournament was delayed until 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The team won all three group games,^[43] before falling 18-20 against Samoa in a 'classic' quarter-final that was lauded for its 'athleticism, power and superb ball-handling skills'.^[44][45]

Kit supplier edit

Tonga's kit suppliers are ISC since 2018. Classic (1995 RLWC), Mitre (2000 RLWC), Kombat (2004–2005), KooGa (2006–2012) and FI-TA (2013–2018) were previous suppliers. As of 2019, the current kit supplier is Dynasty Sport.^[46]

Also see Category:Tonga national rugby league team coaches.

Current squad edit

The Tongan squad for the 2023 Tonga rugby league tour of England. The squad was announced on 4 October 2023.^[47]
Jersey numbers in the table are those used in the Third Test against England.
Statistics in this table are compiled from the website, Rugby League Project, and are up to 5 November 2023, including the Third Test.

Notable former players edit

Since rugby league was introduced to the nation of Tonga in 1986 many players of Tongan birth or heritage have gone on to attain notability by participating in NRL or Super League, or both. Additionally many Tongan heritage players have represented other nations (mainly Australia or New Zealand) in addition to Tonga.

A list of seventeen former notable Tongan heritage players below that have played in NRL & Super League all played internationally for Tonga, with twelve of them also having played for other nations.

• Bold- denotes that the player is still active.

Most capped players edit

Top try scorers edit

Top points scorers edit

The following table underneath shows Tonga's all-time rugby league results record. Matches include those played as the Tonga Invitational XIII side. They have been participating in International fixtures since 1986.

• Pacific Cup: 2

1994, 2006

• Tongan National Rugby League, the national league competition.
• Tonga National Rugby League, the governing body of the sport in Tonga.
• Rugby league in Tonga
• Tonga women's national rugby league team

• Official website
• Tonga national rugby league team on Facebook
• 2008 Rugby League World Cup Website
• Matangi Tonga Online
• Tonga Broadcasting