BY RNZ.co.nz and is republished with permission
The Tonga Rugby Union CEO says despite the difficulties the Covid-19 pandemic has brought to the rugby schedule, they’re grateful for the support of officials.
TRU is thankful to the government in Tonga for their help in paying the players, especially as the players have had to pay for quarantine costs in New Zealand.
CEO Peter Harding said it was important that Tonga participated in the World Cup qualifiers to ensure they had a chance to compete for a spot in their berth in the 2023 tournament in France.
“We’re playing rugby in a pandemic, no one has ever gone through this before, so it’s going to be difficult to manage logistics of rugby and so forth.
“We knew what we were getting ourselves into and we agreed to it because that’s the only way we could have played these world cup qualifiers.
“if we didn’t play these qualifiers now, when were we going to play them? It would’ve meant potentially in the November window, which would mean opportunity for other test matches as well.
Harding expressed his gratitude to New Zealand Rugby and World Rugby for their support.
“They’ve been very good especially as the game is not a normal situation now.
“Every single person is scrambling in the best way they can.
“We put our hand up and accepted these conditions, so we’re not going to complain,” he said.
Harding explained that when a team plays a test match against a country in that’s nation’s home grounds, they are responsible for paying the accommodation of the away team.
“We made sure with New Zealand Rugby that our accommodation was covered by them when we played the All Blacks.
“However, with our upcoming match against Manu Samoa, I have signed on behalf of Tonga a memorandum of understanding that we would both look after the costs of our own teams.
“When you play in a World Cup qualifier, you have to fund your own team,” he said.
Manu Samoa will battle against Tonga’s Ikale Tahi in Auckland’s Mt Smart Stadium on July 10 and in Hamilton a week later.
The winner will secure their berth in the 2023 tournament in France, while the loser will play-off against the Cook Islands, with the winner advancing to the Asia/Pacific Playoff.
