Tonga’s national rugby team trained at the University of Central Lancashire on Friday 31 under their new technical adviser, Jake White.
The ‘Īkale-Tahi team are in England as part of their End of Year Tour to Europe where they will perform three test matches.
Mana Ōtai, the head coach, was hopeful this tour will be different after they received a massive opportunity to work closely with the professionals and got feed back from coaching staff at the university.
Mana said it was a great blessing for the ʻĪkale-Tahi to have Jake White with them during the tour.
White, who guided South Africa to the 2007 World Cup, was pictured training with ʻĪkale-Tahi players in Lancashire.
The ‘Ikale-Tahi, keen for a fresh start after the New Zealand’s Chief prop Ben Tameifuna withdrew from Tonga’s tour to fight in a charity boxing bout with rugby league player Willie Mason in December, have just arrived in Tbilisi, Georgia on Monday.
The Tongan team will play Georgia on Saturday 8 November, The USA on Saturday 15 November and Scotland on Saturday 22 November.
