Why it's fine to wear red for Tonga ^Featured

14 October, 2018. Even as a Samoan, Oscar Kightley thinks Tonga's fanatical and vociferous supporters have been wonderful.

OPINION: This can be a bit difficult for a Samoan to write but… thank goodness for the Tongan national rugby league team.

It's only hard in an envious way because Tonga and Samoa are the closest of neighbours and have a traditional rivalry that goes back centuries. Even the competition between New Zealand and Australia – as hearty as it is – doesn't compare.

The thousands of years of shared history and close political and familial ties between the two nations only make that rivalry even more fierce. In modern times, when it has been expressed on the sports field, and recently in rugby league, Tonga have been dominant.

As both a Toa Samoa and Kiwis supporter, I could only look on with admiration at last year's Rugby league World Cup, when the Tongan fans almost painted the country red with apassionate support that nearly carried their team into the final.

The atmosphere was like back in 2011 during the Rugby World Cup, when Tongans imbued that tournament with such a love for their team that it encouraged supporters from other nations to be more vociferous in support for their sides.

Last week's incredible scenes in Auckland when Tonga touched down in New Zealand prove that when it comes to airport welcomes, there is the greeting that welcomes most teams – and then there is the unbridled joy from supporters that greets a Tongan national team.

"Mate ma'a Tonga" translates into English as "Die for Tonga", which must surely be the most hardcore name of any team in any sport, anywhere.

And as they get ready to play the world champion Australians in Auckland next week, that level of love and support shows no signs of abating. To the point where that game is almost a sell-out and will surely have more in attendance than last night's Kiwis test against the Kangaroos.

What's more, all this support has seemingly appeared without the need for major promotion. As soon as the game was confirmed, Tongan flags started appearing on cars and everywhere else around the country.

New Zealand rugby league bosses at first turned down the chance to play the Tonga-Kangaroos game here for fear of it overshadowing their own game against the Aussies – but it turns out that's exactly what's happened.

When they changed their mind, they were criticized for it. But in allowing the game to go ahead, they've done a favour not just for the more than 60,000 Tongans who call New Zealand home, but also for the countless sports fans in New Zealand who will now be able to witness the cultural phenomenon that is the rise of Mate ma'a Tonga.

The last time I saw anything like this around a sports team was in 1991 when Manu Samoa made a splash at the Rugby World Cup. Little-known players became heroes and household names, the whole of Samoa was awash pride and the Samoan community in New Zealand was boosted like never before.

Having experienced that, it's easy to understand the feeling of pride that Tongan people get from their team – an emotion which goes far beyond whatever the final score may be. Its impact and significance will certainly last longer than the 80 minutes of any game.

You have to try to sense it through the mana it gives to the players, the love in the hymn that was sung for them at their welcome event in Manukau, and on the faces of the youngest supporters who were at the airport performing the Sipi Tau for their team.

It's awesome that this game next week is in Auckland and not in Penrith, Paramatta or some other Aussie venue. And given that many of the Tongan players have New Zealand connections, next week everyone who's not Australian can happily wear red.

- Sunday Star Times