Tonga rugby

The global governing body has come under fire from some quarters after Samoa’s win over Tonga was played in dire weather conditions, with water pooling in some sections of t

Tonga centre Cooper Vuna and second row Sam Lousi have both taken to social media since the game to express their frustrations at what became something of a mudbath.

“Shoutout to World Rugby for signing off the field for us to play on today,” wrote Lousi, who has signed for Pro14 side Scarlets ahead of the new season, on Twitter.

Manu, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer last year, was originally named as 'Ikale Tahi captain for the Pacific Nations Cup opener.

He had missed the entire 2018 season for his Italian club Bennetton Treviso while he undertook treatment and his naming in the squad had been a source of inspiration for many of the players.

However this morning the 'Ikale Tahi announced that Manu, a former Highlanders Super Rugby captain, had been been forced to withdraw due to an undisclosed injury.

'Ikale Tahi coach Toutai Kefu has named a squad which is notable for a handful of newcomers, including former Hurricanes lock Sam Lousi, and the return of 30 year old Manu.

Manu played three tests for Tonga before missing the entire season for Italian club Bennetton Treviso to undergo chemotherapy and testicular cancer surgery.

The match on Saturday is the 'Ikale Tahi's first in their World Cup build up which will culminate with a test against New Zealand in September.

The Pacific islanders led 21-10 at the half and withstood a Canadian comeback at Estadio Martins Pereira. Trailing 26-15 with 14 minutes late, the Canadian scored two late tries but missed both conversions and fell just short.

The eight-team World Rugby U20 Trophy is a second-tier youth championship. The tournament winner earns promotion to the 12-team World Rugby U20 Championship won by France last month.

Nick Carson, Reid Davis, Will Mathews and Michael McCarthy scored tries for Canada. Captain Will Percillier added a penalty and a conversion.

The 31-year-old loose forward missed Benetton Treviso’s entire 2018-19 Pro14 season after being diagnosed with testicular cancer at the end of last year.

He has since made a miraculous recovery after undergoing chemotherapy treatment for the illness, and is poised to make his first appearance for the ‘Ikale Tahi since facing Fiji in Lautoka last June.

The Sydney Morning Herald revealed this week John Folau had backflipped on a deal to return to rugby league after asking the Waratahs for a release because of "personal reasons", believed to be related to his brother's controversial sacking.

The 24-year-old told Blacktown Workers, the feeder club for Manly, he would lace the boots this weekend for them but then told club officials he had decided to instead concentrate on his rugby.

An announcement was made at the venue of the games on Wednesday morning, which will be warm up fixtures for the Rugby World Cup in Japan.

Auckland Tourism Events and Economic Development (Ateed), which is an arm of Auckland Council, is involved with putting on the games and there is hope that fans will come out in a similar way to how they've done for the Tongan rugby league team in recent years.

Folau is waiting to receive his punishment for being found guilty at a code of conduct hearing after his controversial Instagram post last month that said “hell awaits” gay people.

Folau faces the prospect of being banished from Australian rugby and if that eventuates, Kefu — who is now coach of the Tongan national team — said he would love to talk to the 73-Test veteran about switching allegiances.

The former Waratahs Super Rugby and New Zealand Warriors rugby league forward is currently sidelined with what is expected to be a season-ending pectoral injury.

"I am very excited to join the Scarlets for next season," he told the Scarlets website.

"It is a team that plays an exciting brand of rugby and I am looking forward to linking up with a group of players that are ambitious to be winning trophies.

"Hopefully, I can help them push forward and achieve further success over the next few years."

Rugby Australia high-performance boss Ben Whitaker confirmed they were in early talks with World Rugby about adding another Pacific Islands nation to the third tier competition after the Drua's success.

The Senirusi Seruvakula-coached side will host Canberra Vikings in Fiji in the first semi-final on Saturday after topping the regular season with a 33-28 win over the Western Force at the weekend.