Tonga at the Rugby World Cup

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

Tonga have played in all but one Rugby World Cup since the inaugural tournament in 1987.

Nation	Number of appearances	First appearance	Most recent appearance	Streak	Best result
Tonga	6	1987	2011	5	Two wins, 2007

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.

By match

1987 Rugby World Cup

Pool 2 games -

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

1995 Rugby World Cup

Pool D games -

Team	Won	Lost	For	Against	Points
France	3	0	114	47	9
Scotland	2	1	149	27	7
Tonga	1	2	44	90	5
Ivory Coast	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: Manakaetau '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	Lost	For	Against	Points
New Zealand	3	0	176	28	6
England	2	1	184	47	4
Tonga	1	2	48	171	2
Italy	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	Lost	For	Against	BP	Points
New Zealand	4	0	282	57	4	20
Wales	3	1	132	98	2	14
Italy	2	2	77	123	0	8
Canada	1	3	54	135	1	5
Tonga	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	L	TF	PF	PA	+/-	BP	Pts
South Africa	4	4	0	24	189	47	+142	3	19
England	4	3	1	11	108	88	+20	2	14
Tonga	4	2	2	9	89	96	−7	1	9
Samoa	4	1	3	5	69	143	−74	1	5
United States	4	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	–	–	–	–	–

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)

Rugby union in Tonga

Governing body

Tonga Rugby Union

National teams

Men's	Tonga A 7's U-20 Pacific Islanders

Women's	Tonga 7's

Competitions

International	Pacific Nations Cup Pacific Rugby Cup Sevens World Series

National	Datec Cup Provincial Championship

Defunct	Super 10 Pacific Tri-Nations Punjas Series

Former teams

Nations who have competed in the Rugby World Cup by tier

Tier 1 teams	Argentina Australia England France Ireland Italy New Zealand Scotland South Africa Wales

Tier 2 teams	Canada Fiji Georgia Japan Romania Samoa Tonga USA

Tier 3 teams	Ivory Coast Namibia Portugal Russia Spain Uruguay Zimbabwe