Tonga prepares for blockbuster rugby in November

The Tonga Rugby Union says its schedule in the upcoming November test window is a reward for some impressive results over the past 12 months.

The ’Ikale Tahi will take on Six Nations champions Wales and World Cup rivals France later this year, as well as playing a first ever international in Romania.

The Tonga Rugby Union’s High Performance Manager, Peter Harding, says beating Scotland last year and a strong showing in the Pacific Nations Cup shows the ’Ikale Tahi are a team on the rise.

He says if they can build on those efforts in November more top matches will come.

“Look at Wales - they had ten players in the Lions squad and they were good so they’re a world class team. France are a bit of a sleeping giant at the moment - they didn’t do good in the Six Nations - but

Tonga Rugby Team: Getty Images

they’re going to be good this Autumn. If we go well this one then we build towards 2014 with some more good test matches and another good schedule, and if we do play these good games our guys get to test themselves against the best teams in the world. It gives them confidence and they have the physical and technical ability to go futher so we need to play well in these games towards 2015”.

RNZI