Sports
Main article: Sport in TongaRugby union is the national sport in Tonga. The nation has a national rugby union team, which played in the 1987, 1995, 1999, 2003 and the 2007 Rugby World Cup competitions. Though Tongans are passionate rugby followers, the small population base means that internationally, Tongan rugby continually struggles. Often, young talent emigrate to countries which offer greater prospects of individual success such as New Zealand and Australia. Some notable rugby union players of Tongan descent include Jonah Lomu (plays for the All Blacks) and Toutai Kefu (plays for Australian Wallaby).
Rugby league is a popular sport enjoyed by Tongans. Soccer has a following, while judo, surfing, volleyball, and cricket have gained popularity in recent years.
Read more about this topic: Culture Of Tonga
Famous quotes containing the word sports:
“Even from their infancy we frame them to the sports of love: their instruction, behaviour, attire, grace, learning and all their words aimeth only at love, respects only affection. Their nurses and their keepers imprint no other thing in them.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)
“In the past, it seemed to make sense for a sportswriter on sabbatical from the playpen to attend the quadrennial hawgkilling when Presidential candidates are chosen, to observe and report upon politicians at play. After all, national conventions are games of a sort, and sports offers few spectacles richer in low comedy.”
—Walter Wellesley (Red)
“There be some sports are painful, and their labor
Delight in them sets off. Some kinds of baseness
Are nobly undergone, and most poor matters
Point to rich ends.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)