2023 Tonga rugby league tour of England

2023 Tonga rugby league tour of England
2023 Tonga rugby league tour of England
Date	22 October – 4 November 2023
Coach(es)	Kristian Woolf
Tour captain(s)	Addin Fonua-Blake
Top point scorer(s)	Isaiya Katoa (6)
Top try scorer(s)	Starford To'a, Tyson Frizell, Toluta'u Koula (1 each)
Summary
P	W
Total
03	00
Opponent
P	W
England
3	0

The 2023 Tonga rugby league tour of England is a three-match tour by the Tonga national rugby league team to England in October and November 2023.[1][2]

Background

The tour is the first by a Pacific island nation to England and the first ever test match series between the two countries. England and Tonga have only played each other three times previously, twice during the 2006 Federation Shield and during the 2017 Rugby League World Cup Semi Final. All three games were won by England. Tonga however, beat Great Britain during the 2019 Lions tour of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

Venues

St Helens	Huddersfield	Leeds
Totally Wicked Stadium	Kirklees Stadium	Headingley
Capacity: 18,000	Capacity: 24,121	Capacity: 21,500

🌍

Squads

Stats are for the tour only

England

The England squad was announced on 17 October 2023.[3]

#	Player	Games	Tries	Goals	Points	Club
	Matty Ashton	0	0	0	0	Warrington Wolves
11	John Bateman	1	0	0	0	Wests Tigers
8	Tom Burgess	1	0	0	0	South Sydney Rabbitohs
9	Daryl Clark	1	0	0	0	Warrington Wolves
	Ben Currie	0	0	0	0	Warrington Wolves
	Tyler Dupree	0	0	0	0	Wigan Warriors
	Liam Farrell	0	0	0	0	Wigan Warriors
17	Chris Hill	1	0	0	0	Huddersfield Giants
5	Tom Johnstone	1	2	0	8	Catalans Dragons
4	Toby King	1	1	0	4	Wigan Warriors
15	Morgan Knowles	1	0	0	0	St Helens
16	Matty Lees	1	0	0	0	St Helens
6	Mikey Lewis	1	1	0	4	Hull KR
2	Tommy Makinson	1	0	0	0	St Helens
10	Mike McMeeken	1	0	0	0	Catalans Dragons
	Robbie Mulhern	0	0	0	0	Leigh Leopards
3	Harry Newman	1	0	0	0	Leeds Rhinos
13	Victor Radley	1	0	0	0	Sydney Roosters
7	Harry Smith	1	0	3	6	Wigan Warriors
	Danny Walker	0	0	0	0	Warrington Wolves
1	Jack Welsby (c)	1	0	0	0	St Helens
	Elliott Whitehead	0	0	0	0	Canberra Raiders
	George Williams (C)	0	0	0	0	Warrington Wolves
	Dom Young	0	0	0	0	Newcastle Knights

Tonga

Squad announced on 4 October 2023.[4]

#	Player	Games	Tries	Goals	Points	Club
	Latu Fainu	0	0	0	0	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
8	Addin Fonua-Blake (C)	1	0	0	0	New Zealand Warriors
10	Moeaki Fotuaika	1	0	0	0	Gold Coast Titans
11	Tyson Frizell	1	1	0	4	Newcastle Knights
9	Siliva Havili	1	0	0	0	South Sydney Rabbitohs
1	William Hopoate	1	0	0	0	St Helens
19	Konrad Hurrell	0	0	0	0	St Helens
18	Eliesa Katoa	0	0	0	0	Melbourne Storm
6	Isaiya Katoa	1	0	3	6	Dolphins
13	Felise Kaufusi	1	0	0	0	Dolphins
12	Keaon Koloamatangi	1	0	0	0	South Sydney Rabbitohs
5	Toluta'u Koula	1	1	0	4	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
7	Tuimoala Lolohea	1	0	0	0	Huddersfield Giants
16	Haumole Olakau'atu	1	0	0	0	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
3	Will Penisini	1	0	0	0	Parramatta Eels
17	Hame Sele	1	0	0	0	South Sydney Rabbitohs
4	Moses Suli	1	0	0	0	St. George Illawarra Dragons
15	Tevita Tatola	1	0	0	0	South Sydney Rabbitohs
14	Dion Teaupa	1	0	0	0	South Sydney Rabbitohs
2	Starford To'a	1	1	0	4	Wests Tigers
	Daniel Tupou	0	0	0	0	Sydney Roosters
	Siua Wong	0	0	0	0	Sydney Roosters

Notes Several squad members have previously played for other nations:

Australia: Tyson Frizell, Felise Kaufusi, and Daniel Tupou. Frizell and Tupou have also played for the Australian Prime Minister's XIII.
Fiji: Siua Wong.
New Zealand: Addin Fonua-Blake, Siliva Havili and Tuimoala Lolohea.
Wales: Tyson Frizell.

Matches

First test

22 October 2023
14:30 BST (UTC+01:00)

England	22–18	Tonga
Tries: King, Lewis, Johnstone (2) Goals: Lewis (1/1), Smith (2/3)	1st: 12–12 2nd: 10–6 Report (ERL) Report (RFL)	Tries: To'a, Frizell, Koula Goals: Katoa (3/4)

Totally Wicked Stadium, St Helens
Attendance: 12,898[5]
Referee: Liam Moore (England)
Touch judges: Jonnie Roberts (England), Jack Smith (England)
Player of the Match: Mikey Lewis (England)

**Team details**
England		Position	Tonga
Name	Number	Position	Number	Name
Jack Welsby	1	FB	1	Will Hopoate
Tommy Makinson	2	WG	2	Starford To'a
Harry Newman	3	CE	3	Will Penisini
Toby King	4	CE	4	Moses Suli
Tom Johnstone	5	WG	5	Toluta'u Koula
Mikey Lewis	6	SO/FE	6	Tui Lolohea
Harry Smith	7	SH/HB	7	Isaiya Katoa
Tom Burgess	8	PR	8	Addin Fonua-Blake
Daryl Clark	9	HK	9	Siliva Havili
Mike McMeeken	10	PF	10	Moeaki Fotuaika
John Bateman	11	SR	11	Tyson Frizell
Elliott Whitehead	12	SR	12	Keaon Koloamatangi
Victor Radley	13	LF/LK	13	Felise Kaufusi
Danny Walker	14	IN	14	Dion Teaupa
Morgan Knowles	15	IN	15	Tevita Tatola
Matty Lees	16	IN	16	Haumole Olakau'atu
Chris Hill	17	IN	17	Hame Sele
Liam Farrell	18	CS	18	Eliesa Katoa
Shaun Wane		Coach		Kristian Woolf

Second test

28 October 2023
14:30 BST (UTC+01:00)

England	v	Tonga
	Report (RFL)

Kirklees Stadium, Huddersfield
Referee: Jack Smith (England)
Touch judges: Chris Kendall (England), Rich Thompson (England)

**Team details**
England		Position	Tonga
Name	Number	Position	Number	Name
	1	FB	1
	2	WG	2
	3	CE	3
	4	CE	4
	5	WG	5
	6	SO/FE	6
	7	SH/HB	7
	8	PR	8
	9	HK	9
	10	PF	10
	11	SR	11
	12	SR	12
	13	LF/LK	13
		IN
		IN
		IN
		IN
		CS

Third test

Played as a double header with an England vs Wales women's international test match.[6]

4 November 2023
14:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)

England	v	Tonga
	Report (RFL)

Headingley Stadium, Leeds
Referee: Chris Kendall (England)
Touch judges: Liam Rush (England), Warren Turley (England)

**Team details**
England		Position	Tonga
Name	Number	Position	Number	Name
	1	FB	1
	2	WG	2
	3	CE	3
	4	CE	4
	5	WG	5
	6	SO/FE	6
	7	SH/HB	7
	8	PR	8
	9	HK	9
	10	PF	10
	11	SR	11
	12	SR	12
	13	LF/LK	13
		IN
		IN
		IN
		IN
		CS

Broadcasting

All three matches of the tour will be broadcast live on BBC One.[7][8]

References

"England to host Tonga in maiden Test series". BBC Sport. 28 April 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
"England to host Tonga in three-match Test series". National Rugby League. 28 April 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
"England vs Tonga: Wigan Warriors captain Liam Farrell returns for Test series as Shaun Wane names squad". Sky Sports. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
"Three Super League players named in Tonga squad for England series but big names missing". Yorkshire Post. 4 October 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
Walker, Callum (22 October 2023). "Attendance revealed for England's Test match against Tonga at St Helens". Total Rugby League.
"Women's home nations clash confirmed: England to take on Wales at Headingley". www.rugby-league.com. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
"England rugby league: BBC TV to show five international matches this autumn". BBC Sport. 8 September 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
"BBC Sport to broadcast five England international fixtures, including end-of-year Tonga series". LoveRugbyLeague. 8 September 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2023.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] "England to host Tonga in maiden Test series". BBC Sport. 28 April 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.

[2] "England to host Tonga in three-match Test series". National Rugby League. 28 April 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.

[3] "England vs Tonga: Wigan Warriors captain Liam Farrell returns for Test series as Shaun Wane names squad". Sky Sports. Retrieved 22 October 2023.

[4] "Three Super League players named in Tonga squad for England series but big names missing". Yorkshire Post. 4 October 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.

[5] Walker, Callum (22 October 2023). "Attendance revealed for England's Test match against Tonga at St Helens". Total Rugby League.

[6] "Women's home nations clash confirmed: England to take on Wales at Headingley". www.rugby-league.com. Retrieved 22 October 2023.

[7] "England rugby league: BBC TV to show five international matches this autumn". BBC Sport. 8 September 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.

[8] "BBC Sport to broadcast five England international fixtures, including end-of-year Tonga series". LoveRugbyLeague. 8 September 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2023.