David Fusitu'a

Former Kelston Boys' High School first XV mentor Athens Henare regards himself as fortunate to have overseen the only season of rugby union played by the former teenage prodigy.

It was rugby league until then, and straight into the Warriors junior programme afterwards.

But for one memorable year, in 2011, Fusitu'a played the 15-man code.

The motivation was simply to have fun with his close friends after five years together at the west Auckland school.

The result?

A match-up between the world champions and the darlings of last year's World Cup has been muted for some time. Australia coach Mal Meninga is a fan of the idea and negotiations between the respective parties are said to be ongoing.

With Jason Taumalolo, Andrew Fifita and the rest of their World Cup squad sticking with Mate Ma'a Tonga, the Kristian Woolf-coached side showed they are here to stay with a dominant victory over Samoa last month.

The Tongans produced a first-half blitz that several experts believed would have given the Kangaroos a run for their money.

TVNZ reports Fusitu'a suffered an injury during his side’s training, rolling his ankle.

Tonga are set to face England on Saturday at Mount Smart Stadium, with the winner securing a World Cup final berth in Brisbane next week.

Since making his NRL Telstra Premiership debut in Round 2 of the 2014 season, Fusitu'a has been in and out of the club's first-grade squad, battling a number of injuries which led to him playing only 32 of a possible 71 games over the past three years.