South Auckland

Many members of the Tongan community also say the hype is not as intense this year compared to previous years and there are even fewer decorated houses.

But in South Auckland, for the third year in a row, a pipe manufacturing company is shouting a couple of hundred workers to back Mate Ma'a Tonga this weekend.

At Hynds Pipe system in East Tamaki, workers are gearing up for the game and they're known to take up about 6 rows in the South Stand at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland.

In a close ceremony with family and friends of the great man present, a church minister officially blessed Jonah Lomu Drive.

Lomu’s wife, Nadene was present with their two boys Dhyreille and Brayley, and she had this to say of the honour: “Jonah was a very big but humble person. I think he would probably be quite shy of something like this, but I think it’s very deserving and most humbling to see.

Feleti Tu’akalau has been a chef for 22 years.

After moving to New Zealand from Tonga, he met his wife and were both living in Auckland as overstayers.

He says living as an overstayer was like being in prison, locked away from all the opportunities that New Zealand had to offer.

“People look at you as a different person but from my experience, you have to treat people the same. At the end of the day we’re all working for our own lives.”

New footage has emerged of a night of shocking violence as Tongan supporters clashed using weapons and brute force following their team's victory in the much-anticipated league match against Pacific rivals Samoa.

Despite widespread appeals for calm, South Auckland's main road became a battleground bringing traffic to a standstill as scores clad in the Tongan red jersey brawled, some brandishing poles, in a series of violent fracas.

NZ Herald reports the skirmishes - which took place on Otahuhu late on Saturday night - saw victims felled by powerful punches and kicks.

Maori Television reports the videos have receive traction online, receiving well over 500,000 views and accumulating 4.5k shares between them.

The release of the footage has resulted in many people voicing their concerns about violence at a family oriented cultural event.

Despite the negative attention Polyfest has recently received, police are adamant that those in attendance demonstrated good behaviour, only having to make 2 arrests during the event. Those arrests however were not related to the event itself.