Samoa vs Tonga rivalry...

The lead up to the Samoa vs Tonga rugby league game in the Rugby League world cup has been an interesting battle with flags from both nations being flown all around South Auckland i.e. driven around on cars, flying on home fences and held by people on roads etc.leading up to this game.

Despite some arrests, flag burning and some hoons behaving badly (on both sides) it's been a friendly rivalry which is not only historical in that Tonga occupied Samoa for a time but then were fought off but it's also about cultural pride. Funnily enough, the Asian shops are probably enjoying their sales of both flags soaring with some shops selling out.

Samoa and Tonga are both proud nations and although Europeans might be shaking their heads with very little understanding of why there has been so much energy and interest in the game it's about two nations who have fiercely self-governed their own nations with Samoa being the first Pacific nation to become independent and Tonga is still self governing in being one of the only Pacific nations with a monarchy which is recognised worldwide.

Which leads me to my connections with Tonga. My maternal grandfather often visited Tonga with my namesake Great grandmother and I may have relayed this before but both were able to speak Tonga fluently. In fact, my mum told me that when my grandfather and his mother would get into heated arguments, that they would argue in Tongan if they didn't want anyone else knowing what they talked about.

One of my great grandmother's sisters married into a Tonga family and some came to live in Faleula with my mum and growing up with them, I knew them to be very tall and strong - genetics which set them apart.

So whoever wins this game (although probably Tonga) may the best team win!...