Cranleigh staff and pupils were delighted to welcome the Tongan national rugby squad this month.
The Surrey School hosted a two-week residential training camp for the Pacific stars and found both sides had much to learn from each other.
Although their training schedule is demanding, the squad found plenty of time to engage with the school and village community during their stay. As well as putting the School’s 1st VI through their paces, the Warriors took part in training sessions for rugby minis with local schools and rugby clubs, impressed local churches with their powerful singing, held workshops for coaches of local teams and even had a belting sing off with the Cranleigh Choral Society!
The culture of Tonga is centred on giving back, both to family and to community. The team plays for passion and for love of the game, and spokespeople reported they found Cranleigh to be a place that echoes their approach.
Mana 'Otai, Head Coach of 'Ikale Tahi, Tonga Rugby Union and former Captain of the team, said: “Cranleigh school has a high profile and prestige, yet it has shown us how grounding rugby can be. We feel very blessed to have been able to experience this, we could not have asked for better.
“The hospitality of Cranleigh School has exceeded our expectations. We needed the chance to have the isolation and focus to build and prepare for the upcoming tournaments, Cranleigh has been an ideal location to achieve this. Being housed in the boarding facilities has created an environment that is conducive to our culture that is far superior to a hotel, in that we are isolated from distractions but
not from each other. It feels like we are at home. This has been helped by the staff, who have been excellent, and have added to that 'Home away from Home' feeling.
“The weather has served us well, giving us opportunities to train in a variety of different weather conditions. We get to prepare ourselves, but we've also been able to give back to the community through our work with the kids club rugby teams, and be involved with the community. It's been a real win – win for us.”
Several other local schools were invited in to watch the team train and to take part in workshops organised by Cranleigh and Tonga Rugby Union together. The team, many of whom are devout Christians, also spent time worshipping in the local churches as Cranleigh’s own chapel is currently undergoing the final stages of its restoration.
Cranleigh’s Director of Rugby and former professional rugby player, Andrew Houston, said: “We feel incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to host the Tongan team on a residential camp here. It’s been exciting for our players and our coaches to be able to rub shoulders with these guys who have such a different style of play and such a great mental attitude. It has given the current pupils real role models to look up to and be inspired by.
“Their expert coaches also ran a coach training workshop for us and other schools, which has given us lots of new ideas. Overall it’s been a really rewarding experience.”
Cranleigh has a fine tradition of rugby success and is renowned for the quality of its rugby, with the 1st XV widely recognized as one of the strongest in the country. Over the last 12 years Cranleigh has produced 14 nationals, playing for Ireland, Wales and New Zealand as well as England.
The unusual partnership between Cranleigh School and Tonga was created by the film-makers behind a powerful documentary called Pacific Warriors. This tells the remarkable story of how the tiny Pacific Island nations of Fiji, Tonga and Samoa reconnect with their heritage and take on the giants of the rugby World Cup, against all the odds. Pacific Warriors will be released before the World Cup, donating a significant percentage of profit to Pacific rugby development.
When they leave Cranleigh tomorrow the Tongan side will go on to an official training camp to get in practice for the upcoming rugby tournaments.
Martin Reader, Headmaster of Cranleigh, said: “We are all incredibly supportive of the Tongan team and their achievements to date. It has been the most wonderful and rewarding experience to have them in the heart of our school community. We will miss them greatly and we all wish them the very best of luck with their forthcoming season”