Tonga making their first major international final is cause for celebration, so it’s a good thing Tonga do that better than just about anyone else.
Back in 2013, they scored a 36-4 win over Samoa which, if you want to get technical about it, never really ended.
As Mahe Fonua raced over for the final try of the night in the dying seconds, fans flooded onto the field at Penrith Park and the last couple of minutes were never played after the match was abandoned.
Fans invaded the field before fulltime of Tonga’s win over Samoa in 2013. (Getty Images: Mark Nolan )
In 2017, in recognition of the Kingdom’s stirring run to the World Cup semi-finals, there was a street parade through Nuku’alofa and some players were granted land in their ancestral family villages.
Two years later, the entire nation was granted a public holiday after the wins over Australia and Great Britain, such was “the spirit of immense joy, felicitations and thankfulness” they brought to their people
Even when they lose, they celebrate, because coming together like this is worth it. After the aforementioned World Cup campaign ended with a narrow loss to England, the Tongan fans stuck around Mt Smart Stadium for hours because even in defeat, they could see how far they’d come.
They’ll likely do the same on Sunday after the Pacific Championship final against Australia, regardless of the result. There’s another match on afterwards, so it’ll be worth sticking around anyway.
But if they can somehow upset the Kangaroos and take the trophy back across the Pacific and hand it to King Tupou VI with the name of the kingdom engraved on the front, it’ll be a moment like no other.
Because this is Tonga’s final frontier, the last thing they have left to achieve. They have gotten their first-ever wins over Australia, New Zealand and England/Great Britain and whenever they replicate those feats it will always be a big deal, but it can never be like the first time.
So what remains is trophies. The only one bigger than this is the World Cup which, for all their talent and passion, might never make it Tonga — England and New Zealand both have close to a century’s head start and they have one World Cup between them over the past 50 years.
This is their best shot at landing some hardware, a bit of physical proof of their progress from minnow to big fish and as well-worn as the story is, it’s always worth remembering just how remarkable that rise has been.
Look at the game with the pitch invasion for confirmation — the jerseys barely have a sponsor and the crowd is a tick over 10,143.
There are no out-and-out stars on either side, but a collection of up-and-comers, old fellas looking to give back and occasional NRL players relishing a chance.
One of those young fellas, who was on debut that night, grew up to be Jason Taumalolo and through him, so much became possible for Tonga.
They still look to him so often, like they did in last week’s stirring win over New Zealand, and the blueprint for beating Australia is contained in that match, which followed the same pattern as all of Tonga’s greatest triumphs.
Physical supremacy in the middle of the field is a must because their points always come off momentum and ruck speed.
Chances will be hard to come by, so they must be taken — that was Tonga’s undoing in their last meeting with Australia three weeks ago. An early score, be it through a penalty or a try, is crucial because it settles down the players as much as it fires up the crowd.
Setting the red sea on fire is the chemical reaction that kicks the kingdom into high gear because home isn’t just 170 islands in the South Pacific — Tonga exists wherever Tongans are together and that can be anywhere the four winds blow.
The crowd will not clamber over the fence should they beat Australia. From the stadiums the team plays in, to the jerseys they wear, to the way they play and prepare, everything is a bit more professional these days.
But taking down the Kangaroos is still its own mountain to climb. Finals can be where the magic runs out, as Samoa found out in the 2022 World Cup decider as the green and gold science won out.
After last year’s humiliation by the Kiwis, Australia have a point to prove and backing up the emotional intensity of last week’s win is a tall ask for the Tongans.
They’ve done it before — their first win over Australia came just a week after their first win over Great Britain — but this is a dream that must be made new again every time.
Mal Meninga’s side will walk in as heavy favourites and deservedly so but if this is all about playing the percentages, none of it would be happening at all.
Going from pitch invasions in cleanskin jerseys to major international finals in a little over a decade isn’t supposed to happen.
One of the best players in the world choosing a tier two nation isn’t supposed to happen. A nation of around 150,000 people with a diaspora of about the same size isn’t supposed to have a shot at downing the best team in the world.
Tonga have been beating the odds for years now and that’s brought them here, to the edge of eternity. If they win, the celebrations will be mighty, but Tonga’s pretty used to that by now.
