Team Tu'uakitau came to New Zealand, hoping to score rugby contracts, when the coronavirus pandemic shut down the world and Tonga completely closed its border before they could get home.
"When we heard that Fiji, Samoa and Niue are taking their people home, and we feel our government should do the same," their coach Tuivaita Ueleni tells The Project. "We have the feeling we've been left behind."
The team has stayed at Tokaikolo Church at the foot of Mangere Mountain during the pandemic and the local community has taken care of them, providing clothing and food.
