By Barbara Dreaver, Pacific Correspondent at 1News. Republished with permission.
Tonga and Samoa took the hopes of their people with them as they faced NZ and Australia in the Rugby League World Cup semifinals.
Three friends who travelled to Ōtāhuhu from the US were among the Mate Ma’a Tonga devotees watching the Rugby League World Cup final with bated breath, writes 1News Pacific Correspondent Barbara Dreaver.
Tonga and Samoa took the hopes of their people with them over the weekend as they faced New Zealand and Australia in the Rugby League World Cup semifinals.
Tonga may have lost to New Zealand 34-10 and Samoa to Australia 44-12, but both Pacific teams can hold their head up high.
Mate Ma’a Tonga were strong in the first half and in Ōtāhuhu, fans grouped around takeaway joints and in bars cheering, dancing, screaming at every try.
Siosiane Maile was one of them.
“It means everything to be honest, we have the smallest country, but we have the biggest hearts… I think just being around other Tongans, it’s a feeling. We call it māfana – when we see other Tongans, it just makes us happy,” she said.
Three best friends flew in from Utah in the US to be part of the street parades and celebrations. Among them was Pita Latu, who said they just loved coming to Auckland to see a big representation of Pasifika which they don’t see in the States.
“I honestly think it’s the spirit, like everyone is very nice here, very welcoming, no matter who you are talking to on the street, no matter what race. I think everyone is very welcoming… it’s the love here,” he said.
“And nobody does it like the Tongans,” Sten Falatea chimed in.
The three friends said Tongans in their home base had also been celebrating big time with parades and street parties. It’s been an opportunity for even those who have never visited the Kingdom of Tonga to show their pride in their heritage.
Many of the fans along the Ōtāhuhu stretch said if Tonga lost, then they would be cheering for Samoa the next day and, of course New Zealand, if it makes the final.
Maile said she would be happy whatever the outcome was.
“Growing up here in New Zealand gave everyone opportunities so we are grateful to Aotearoa for letting us in, letting us in to this beautiful country,” she said.
Behind her, about 50 Tongans were gathered around a fast food joint which had the game on live, a sea of Tongan red. Flags waved and people hugged and danced whenever their players did anything promising on the field. Parents brought their children and families stood at the side of the road waving at cars heaving under the weight of Tongan flags, beeping as they go past. There was the odd patch of trouble as the night wore on but on the whole it was joyful.
That sort of passion’s hard to replicate and it’s worth money.
Tonga and Samoa’s bruising encounter with each other which led both teams progressing to the semis generated a television audience averaging 1.5 million viewers and a broadcast reach of nearly 3 million.
The Australian stands were packed with Samoan and Tongan fans who also took to the streets both in Australia and internationally with parades, parties, singing and dancing. Social media was inundated with Pasifika pride.
They bring the numbers and the passion across codes.
It was why in 2011, just prior to the Rugby World Cup which New Zealand was hosting, then Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully led a delegation which included the late Jonah Lomu to Tonga and Samoa to generate excitement. It worked beyond all expectations.
Two months later when Ikale Tonga arrived at Auckland international Airport, 7000 supporters turned out to meet them. It was pandemonium in the airport carpark which took up to two hours to get out of and in the end, the barrier arms just stayed up and traffic light phasing had to be changed to get rid of the backlog. Then there was the 200-strong convoy which followed the team back to the city and the first world cup game – All Blacks v Tonga – was a triumph in enthusiasm and bums on seats.
It’s great publicity for the sport but it’s so much more than that.
It’s very hard to think of the Tongan and Samoan league teams as anything but winners. They are the lucky ones, with supporters who not only believe in them but carry the collective pride of their nations.
