Photo: OLI SCARFF/AFP
Repeat of World Cup quarter-final cracker on the cards; Pearls facing tough tests in Singapore; and more
Samoa, Tonga looking at rugby league Tests against each other
Talks are reportedly underway for Tonga and Samoa to play a rugby league men’s Test series at the end of the 2023 season.
With News Corp reporting that a 10-year plan for the international game of league is set to be signed off, it’s understood talks between Samoa and Tonga are under way.
The two nations have had a host of NRL players representing them at this year’s World Cup, with plenty choosing their nation of heritage over Australia or New Zealand.
Samoan coach Matt Parish confirmed conversations have happened between him and Tongan coach Kristian Woolf, including about Tests between the teams.
In the Rugby League World Cup earlier this month, Samoa defeated their rivals 20-18 to earn a place in the semi-finals.
Pearls’ face four nations in netball World Cup warm-up
Fiji’s netball side is due to take part in a five-nations tournament in Singapore next month as they prepare for the World Cup in South Africa.
The Pearls will face Singapore, Malaysia, Botswana and Ireland in the tournament next month.
Netball Fiji chief executive Vivian Koster says this will augur well for the team.
“It gives us a really good range of netball styles and from past experiences, we’ve learned that when we get to the World Cup, irrespective of your ranking, you have such an array of netball styles that sometimes you’re not quite sure on how to play against them so this gives us some preparation for that,” she said.
A 20-member Pearls squad has been training and playing against the national men’s team.
Twelve players will be selected for the team which leave for Singapore on December 3.
Nuku’alofa to host Oceania U-20 rugby competition
The annual Oceania Rugby Under-20s Trophy competition will be contested by Tonga and Samoa in Nuku’alofa.
The teams will play two games on November 29 and December 3 at Teufaiva Stadium.
Last year’s tournament was cancelled due to Covid concerns.
Introduced in 2015, the competition offers pathways for age grade teams, excluding teams already qualified to the World Rugby U-20 Championship.
Chess champ Short completes tall order in Tonga
British Chess Grandmaster, Nigel Short, took on ten local chess players in Tonga as part of an exhibition to promote the sport to the Kingdom.
It took less than an hour and half to defeat all his opponents at the event hosted by Hotel Nuku’alofa.
Short, who is the Vice President of the International Chess Federation, says it would be good to see Tonga and Samoa face off in chess.
“Some of the older players were more experienced but what I would like to see is international competition, Tonga vs Samoa, is that what we would all like to all see?”
