Tonga at the Rugby World Cup

Map of nations best results, excluding nations which unsuccessfully participated in qualifying tournaments.

The Tonga national rugby union team has played in all Rugby World Cup tournaments, except in 1991, when they did not qualify. Their best performances were in the 2007 and 2011 tournaments, when they won two matches. Their best single match win was an upset victory in 2011 over eventual finalists France.

Nation	Number of appearances	First appearance	Most recent appearance	Streak	Best result
Tonga	7	1987	2015	6	Two wins, 2007, 2011

By position

• 1987 Rugby World Cup Eliminated in pool stages.
• 1991 Rugby World Cup Did not qualify.
• 1995 Rugby World Cup Eliminated in pool stages.
• 1999 Rugby World Cup Eliminated in pool stages.
• 2003 Rugby World Cup Eliminated in pool stages.
• 2007 Rugby World Cup Eliminated in pool stages.
• 2011 Rugby World Cup Eliminated in pool stages.
• 2015 Rugby World Cup Eliminated in pool stages.

By match

1987 Rugby World Cup

Pool 2 games -

Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Pts
Wales	3	3	0	0	82	31	6
Ireland	3	2	0	1	84	41	4
Canada	3	1	0	2	65	90	2
Tonga	3	0	0	3	29	98	0

1987-05-24

Canada	37 – 4	Tonga
Tries: Palmer (2) Vaesen (2) Stuart Frame Penalty try Con: Wyatt (2) Gareth Rees Pen: Rees		Try: Valu

McLean Park, Napier Referee: Clive Norling

1987-05-29

Tonga	16 – 29	Wales
Tries: Fielea Fifita Con: Liava'a Pen: Liava'a Amone		Tries: Webbe (3) Hadley Con: Thorburn (2) Pen: Thorburn (2) Drop: Davies

Showgrounds Oval, Palmerston North Referee: David Bishop

1987-06-03

Ireland	32 – 9	Tonga
Tries: Mullin (3) MacNeill (2) Con: Ward (3) Pen: Ward (2)		Pen: Amone (3)

Ballymore, Brisbane Referee: Guy Maurette

1991 Rugby World Cup

Did not qualify

1995 Rugby World Cup

Pool D games -

Team	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Points
France	3	0	0	114	47	9
Scotland	2	0	1	149	27	7
Tonga	1	0	2	44	90	5
Ivory Coast	0	0	3	29	172	3

1995-05-26

France	38 – 10	Tonga
Tries: Thierry Lacroix (2), Aubin Hueber, Philippe Saint-André Con: Thierry Lacroix (3) Pen: Thierry Lacroix (3) Drop: Yann Delaigue		Tries: Tevita Va'enuku Con: Sateki Tu'ipulotu Pen: Sateki Tu'ipulotu

Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria Attendance: 25 000 Referee: Steve Lander

1995-05-30

Scotland	41 – 5	Tonga
Tries: Scott Hastings, Eric Peters, Gavin Hastings Con: Gavin Hastings Pen: Gavin Hastings (8)		Tries: Ipolito Fenukitau

Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria Attendance: 21 000 Referee: Barry Leask

1995-06-03

Ivory Coast	11 – 29	Tonga
Tries: Alfred Okou Pen: Athanase Dali (2)		Tries: Mana Otai, Sateki Tu'ipulotu, Pouvalu Latukefu Con: Sateki Tu'ipulotu (3) Pen: Sateki Tu'ipulotu

Olympia Park, Rustenburg Attendance: 16 000 Referee: Don Reordan

1999 Rugby World Cup

Pool 2 games -

Team	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Points
New Zealand	3	0	0	176	28	6
England	2	0	1	184	47	4
Tonga	1	0	2	48	171	2
Italy	0	0	3	35	196	0

1999-10-03

New Zealand	45 – 9	Tonga
Tries: Jonah Lomu (2), Byron Kelleher, Norm Maxwell, Josh Kronfeld Con: Andrew Mehrtens (4) Pen: Andrew Mehrtens (4)		Pen: Siua Taumalolo (3)

Ashton Gate, Bristol Attendance: 21,000 Referee: Derek Bevan

1999-10-10

Italy	25 – 28	Tonga
Tries: Alessandro Moscardi Con: Diego Dominguez Pen: Diego Dominguez (6)		Tries: Taunaholo Taufahema, 'Isileli Fatani, Sateki Tuipulotu Con: Sateki Tuipulotu (2) Pen: Sateki Tuipulotu (2) Drop: Sateki Tuipulotu

Welford Road, Leicester Referee: David McHugh

1999-10-15

England	101 – 10	Tonga
Tries: Jeremy Guscott (2), Phil Greening (2), Dan Luger (2), Austin Healey (2), Will Greenwood (2), Matt Dawson, Matt Perry, Richard Hill Con: Paul Grayson (12) Pen: Paul Grayson (4)		Tries: Tevita Tiueti Con: Sateki Tuipulotu Pen: Sateki Tuipulotu

Twickenham, London Attendance: 72,485 Referee: Wayne Erickson

2003 Rugby World Cup

Group D games-

Team	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	BP	Points
New Zealand	4	0	0	282	57	4	20
Wales	3	0	1	132	98	2	14
Italy	2	0	2	77	123	0	8
Canada	1	0	3	54	135	1	5
Tonga	0	0	4	46	178	1	1

2003-10-15

Italy	36 – 12	Tonga
Tries: M. Dallan, D. Dallan (2) Con: Wakarua (3) Pen: Wakarua (5)		Tries: Payne, Tu'ifua Con: Tu'ipulotu

Canberra Stadium Attendance: 18,967 Referee: Steve Walsh

2003-10-19

Wales	27 – 20	Tonga
Tries: Cooper, M. Williams Con: S. Jones Pen: S. Jones (4) Drop: M. Williams		Tries: Hola, Kivalu, Lavaka Con: Hola Pen: Hola

Canberra Stadium Attendance: 19,806 Referee: Paul Honiss

2003-10-24

New Zealand	91 – 7	Tonga
Tries: Braid, Carter, Flynn, Ralph (2), Spencer, Meeuws, Penalty try, Muliaina (2), MacDonald, Howlett (2) Con: MacDonald (12), Spencer		Tries: Hola Con: Tu'ipulotu

Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane Attendance: 47,588 Referee: Pablo De Luca

2003-10-29

Canada	24 – 7	Tonga
Tries: Fauth, Abrams Con: Pritchard Pen: Ross (4)		Tries: Kivalu Con: Hola

WIN Stadium, Wollongong Attendance: 15,630 Referee: Alain Rolland

2007 Rugby World Cup

Pool A matches -

Team Pld W D L TF PF PA +/- BP Pts  South Africa 4 4 0 0 24 189 47 +142 3 19  England 4 3 0 1 11 108 88 +20 2 14  Tonga 4 2 0 2 9 89 96 −7 1 9  Samoa 4 1 0 3 5 69 143 −74 1 5  United States 4 0 0 4 7 61 142 −81 1 1

ENG SAM RSA TGA USA England – 44 – 22 0 – 36 36 – 20 28 – 10 Samoa – – 7 – 59 15 – 19 25 – 21 South Africa – – – 30 – 25 64 – 15 Tonga 20-36 19-15 25-30 – 25 – 15 United States – – – – –

2011 Rugby World Cup

Tonga played in Pool A. After losing to New Zealand and Canada, they beat Japan and then had an upset victory over eventual finalists France, their greatest World Cup match result to date.

Team	Pld	W	D	L	TF	PF	PA	+/−	BP	Pts
New Zealand	4	4	0	0	36	240	49	+191	4	20
France	4	2	0	2	13	124	96	+28	3	11
Tonga	4	2	0	2	7	80	98	−18	1	9
Canada	4	1	1	2	9	82	168	−86	0	6
Japan	4	0	1	3	8	69	184	−115	0	2

9 September 2011	New Zealand	41–10	Tonga	Eden Park, Auckland
14 September 2011	Tonga	20–25	Canada	Northland Events Centre, Whangarei
21 September 2011	Tonga	31–18	Japan	Northland Events Centre, Whangarei
1 October 2011	France	14–19	Tonga	Regional Stadium, Wellington

2015 Rugby World Cup

Team	Pld	W	D	L	TF	PF	PA	+/−	BP	Pts
New Zealand	4	4	0	0	25	174	49	+125	3	19
Argentina	4	3	0	1	22	179	70	+109	3	15
Georgia	4	2	0	2	5	53	123	–70	0	8
Tonga	4	1	0	3	8	70	130	–60	2	6
Namibia	4	0	0	4	8	70	174	–104	1	1

19 September 2015	Tonga	10–17	Georgia	Kingsholm, Gloucester
29 September 2015	Tonga	35–21	Namibia	Sandy Park, Exeter
4 October 2015	Argentina	45–16	Tonga	Leicester City Stadium, Leicester
9 October 2015	New Zealand	47–9	Tonga	St. James' Park, Newcastle

Hosting

So far Tonga has not hosted any World Cup games, and has not put in bids for future tournaments. Due to the lack of facilities, and the small size of the island nation, it is unlikely it will do so in the future.

References

• Davies, Gerald (2004) The History of the Rugby World Cup (Sanctuary Publishing Ltd, (ISBN 1860746020)
• Farr-Jones, Nick, (2003). Story of the Rugby World Cup, Australian Post Corporation, (ISBN 0-642-36811-2)