Emotions are high ahead of the Rugby World Cup qualifying match between Samoa and Tonga this weekend.
The game, to be played in Waitakere on Saturday, was originally scheduled for June, but was postponed because of Covid-19.
Now the two teams are just grateful for the opportunity to play.
Emotions are high ahead of the Samoa Tonga match this weekend. Photo: RNZ / Talei Anderson
The Tongan women's team have overcome a number of setbacks in their bid to qualify for the 2021 World Cup.
It was only two years ago when the kingdom's government placed a ban on girls playing rugby in schools, a move which was quickly reversed following public outrage.
In their rebuild, the team was forced to withdraw from last year's Oceania Rugby Championships in Fiji, after being quarantined for measles.
They were thrown a lifeline when World Rugby agreed to revise the qualification process which saw them play Papua New Guinea in a repechage qualifier earlier this year.
But that wasn't an easy feat for them either, after the game was postponed due to visa entry complications which twice prevented the Tongan team's departure from Auckland.
After finally securing their showdown against the Manusina, the game scheduled for Apia in June, was also pushed back.
Coach, Sione Pulu, said they were just grateful for the opportunity to play.
The Tonga women's rugby team continue to break barriers in their bid for a 2021 World Cup spot. Photo: Supplied
"We've gone through all the downers, so all I can see for us is the uppers now," he said.
"How many more things can go [wrong]? We had the measles, games delayed, the Covid-19 [pandemic], I mean there mustn't be much left to go through, so I'm hoping it's [only up] from here."
Captain of the Tonga women's side, Vainga Moimoi, said despite the chaotic year they've had, she's proud to see how far they've come.
"I'm just proud to be a part of it and it's just cool to see where we started and where we are now, and just having this opportunity," she said.
"We've grown a lot, not only on the field but also reflecting on ourselves, learning about our heritage and where we're from."
The 21-year-old has captained the side since she made her debut for the Tonga Sevens team in 2017, but she's never had the chance to play an international fixture in front of her family.
Moimoi said it's going to be a surreal experience.
Tonga captain Vainga Moimoi will play her first international in front of family on Saturday. Photo: © Photosport Ltd 2019 www.photosport.nz
"It's definitely going to be different because I know I'm going to have to try and block out them yelling 'Inga, Inga' but it's going to be an experience and a feeling I can't explain."
It hasn't been an easy road for Samoa either, who have been waiting for this game since they lost the Oceania qualifying final against Fiji last November.
While the winners of the game this Saturday will advance to the final qualification tournament next year, the time and place for that is still undecided, after the European Championship was postponed earlier in the week.
Manusina coach, Ramsey Tomokino, said they aren't letting the ongoing uncertainty affect them.
"You just get used to this 'okay this is happened move on, this has happened move on,' and you just adapt and I guess it's the nature of us Polynesians as well where we become adaptable and just accept what some things are," he explained.
Covid-19 has changed the sporting landscape drastically. Border restrictions mean both teams had been limited to selecting New Zealand-based players only, and although Tomokino said he was disappointed overseas players won't be part of the campaign, he said the pandemic had presented a number of opportunities they wouldn't have been able to experience otherwise.
"Covid-19 has taken away but it has also presented 14 girls an opportunity to play for their country of heritage," he said.
"It's also given players the opportunity to play an international in front of their families for the first time, and when I think of players like our captain Masuisui Pauaraisa and Marilyn Live, and them being able to play in front of their family… that's going to be really special."
"A lot of these girls make a lot of sacrifices to be here. They're mothers, Live is a mother, and just hearing her share her story around that with her son and her parents being able to watch her, it's going to be a really special moment for a lot of these women."
.@Manusina_SWR in full voice as they prepare for the @oceaniarugby @WorldRugby Rugby World Cup repechage qualifying match against Tonga this weekend. pic.twitter.com/6IRWDt6ubk
— RNZ Pacific Sport (@RNZISport) November 11, 2020
Olalini Tafoulua will be the first daughter of a former Manusina player, Sosefina Petelo, to make her debut this Saturday.
The 25-year-old lock said it's going to be a huge honour and privilege to play in front of her family.
Olalini Tafoulua (r) playing alongside her mum, former Manusina player Sosefina Petelo, in club rugby for Auckland Marist. Photo: Supplied
"It's obviously going to be a huge honour for me because I'm New Zealand born, and it's just something about the blue jersey that means a lot because it represents the struggles my grandparents and my mum went through for me," she said.
"For my grandparents and my mum, and my family to sacrifice the life they knew [in Samoa], that's what I'm representing, and I'm going to go out on Saturday and just remember I have them with me, this is my life and I'm grateful, and I'm doing it for them."
Whatever the outcome this weekend, both sides will be giving it all they've got, and one Pacific nation will be one step closer to a World Cup spot.
