International Wrap #5 - Tonga reign in a new world order

In the early hours of a November morning, many Great Britain rugby league fans rose from their beds with weary eyes to watch their side be edged out by New Zealand. 

Some of those may have returned to bed for a few hours as the game finished at 6AM. Those who did, when they woke again must have thought themselves to be in a sleep-deprived stupor when they saw that Tonga had defeated Australia by 16-12.

It is not hyperbole to say that this result is a seismic shock to international rugby league. In the 112 years that we have had an international game, Australia have dominated. They have dominated to the extent that only 4 sides had beaten them prior to Saturday: England, Great Britain, France and New Zealand. Tonga have added their name to that exclusive club.

Here are some more facts:

- Before yesterday, Australia had not lost to a side other than New Zealand since 2006.

- Before yesterday, Australia had not lost to a “tier 2” nation, since France defeated them 11-10 in December 1978.

For reasons that will be explored in a blog in a few weeks’ time, rugby league has struggled to develop a “fourth nation” who are able to compete at the very top of the game. It appears that with the emergence of Tonga, we are closer to that consistency than we have been at any time since France enjoyed a brief rugby league boom in the 1950’s.

Shortly before the 2017 World Cup, leading lights such as Jason Taumalolo and Andrew Fifita defected from New Zealand and Australia to their heritage nation of Tonga. Almost overnight, Tonga transformed from an also-ran to a side that defeated New Zealand in the World Cup and were one dropped ball (or stripped ball depending on who you ask) away from a maiden World Cup final.

Often in rugby league, we experience a brief success and it immediately lapses. It looked like this was going to happen again. In 2018, Tonga lost comfortably to Australia and similarly suffered a heavy defeat to New Zealand in June 2019. However, the end of season internationals has shown that the Tongan surge is no flash in the pan.

(Picture Credit: @Jordan Patu)

By defeating Great Britain and Australia, Tonga have defeated the three sides above them in the world rankings and the three dominant forces of the international sport in two years. Yes, I know Britain is a different entity to England, but the squad is essentially the same!

After games, you often see top-flight players praise the support of their fans on social media. I have never played professional sport, so I do not know how much of an impact fan support has on a team and whether it does lift them. Cynically, apart from in exceptional circumstances, I believe that the impact of fan support is exaggerated.

One of those exceptions I believe is Tonga’s support. Many England players have publicly commented that the atmosphere at the World Cup semi-final in 2017 was the best they have every experienced. This came from players who have played in Grand Finals on both sides of the world, Challenge Cup Finals, World Club Challenges and a World Cup final. This came from players who have played at stadiums such as Old Trafford, Wembley, Anfield, St James Park, Etihad Stadium, Olympic Stadium, Suncorp Stadium, the list goes on.

I believe that the support of the Tongan fans will prove critical for keeping them competitive. Think about it. A young up and coming rugby league player of joint New Zealand and Tongan heritage has a choice of who to play for. Tonga can offer him almost cult-like hero worship, packed out stadiums and fans turning up at airports to laud them upon arrival.

Take a look at what playing for Tonga means for Konrad Hurrell for one!

By comparison to Tonga, New Zealand have historically faced poor crowds for home internationals. Take Saturday’s triple header at Eden Park for example. By far the most represented nation was Tonga. The rise of Tonga may consequentially lead to New Zealand taking a hit.

This blog post has been a positive one for the most part so we will keep it that way! New Zealand had poor crowds before Tonga emerged as a force. Anecdotally, Tonga’s emergence appears to have engaged a latent fanbase in New Zealand. A fanbase that is proud of their Tongan heritage but previously has not had a brand to get behind.

Tonga’s emergence as a powerful fourth nation is a huge fillip ahead of the 2021 World Cup in England and for the international game as a whole. Maybe now as a sport we will start taking international sport seriously and not as an afterthought.

As a sport, we have for too long being backward in that regard. In this country, only Premier League football can command wall-to-wall coverage for its domestic game. As an example, I would be able to tell you which two nations took part in Cricket World Cup Final over the summer but could not tell who took part in the domestic T20 blast final (or who won it). I would also be able to tell you which two nations took part in the Rugby Union World Cup Final on Saturday but I could not tell you which two sides took part in the Premiership final.

Our sport is smaller than both rugby union and cricket, but our domestic game is of a comparable size to the former and probably larger than the latter. The difference is, those sports put internationals at the forefront and reap the column inches and public attention as a result.

The wider sporting public will get behind an “England” or “Great Britain” as a result of that shift in focus, far more than they will engage with a Super League Grand Final between St Helens and Salford, for example.

There’s some food for thought this Sunday! Tonga have given the international game an opportunity that we have not had for at least 60 years. We have an Australian tour coming up in 2020 and a World Cup in 2021. It’s time to grab the bull by the horns, shift our focus to the international game and take what is a once in a generation opportunity to grow the international game.