RWC 2027 Draw - TGA reaction (Tu'ifua, Tameifuna) - RWC 2027 Draw

Tevita Tu'ifua, head coach

On being drawn against England and Wales, both of whom he played against in Rugby World Cups:

“With Wales, I would say they are now in a building phase. Looking at their background of playing in Australia, I think they’ll handle it well, and so will England, having the background in Australia in the 2003 World Cup.

"Even though it will be an advantage for them to have that experience and that motivation, there could also be some more pressure on the players having that to live up to.”

Ben Tameifuna, captain

On his expectations of their Pool F opponents:

“England are always going to be a strong team, Wales as well, being a tier one nation team. They’ve obviously got all the backing behind them.

“We’re on a building path as well as a team, and I feel like we’re heading in the right direction. 

“I don’t know much about Zimbabwe, but they’ve obviously earned their spot at a World Cup, so I believe this will be a huge occasion for them, especially with it being one of their first World Cups. So, they’ll be throwing the kitchen sink at it, having a crack and seeing whether they can produce an upset.

“As a Tongan team, we’re heading in the right direction. We’re slowly building and anything can happen at World Cups. We’re pretty stoked with the pools, actually, we’re pretty happy and looking forward to it.”

On playing in a Rugby World Cup in the southern hemisphere, so close to friends and family:

“Following the 2011 World Cup, we’re looking to build on that. Being in the southern hemisphere, it’s sort of in our backyard; people just have to fly to Australia from Tonga and New Zealand, as opposed to flying to Europe, so it will be like a home away from home.

"We’re definitely looking forward to that. Hopefully, the red sea will turn up and show as much support for us as they do for the Mate Ma'a Tonga team. We feed off that, and hopefully we can paint these Australian stadiums in red.”