Tonga sevens

The Kingdom are among 13 core teams and three invitational teams, including Papua New Guinea, competing in the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series, which kicks off in Viña del Mar in Chile this weekend.

The top eight ranked core teams after the two legs in Chile and Uruguay will compete in the final World Series Qualifier in Hong Kong in April.

Tonga head coach Tevita Tu'ifua said it was important they performed well and maintained their standards across both tournaments.

In pool play, Tonga take on Zimbabwe and the Philippines today and Hong Kong tomorrow.

Tonga ended a five-year absence from the World Series by competing at the Hamilton and Sydney tournaments earlier this year.

The winner of the 12 team Hong Kong qualifier is given a place on 10 leg series, and Tonga manager Richard Weightman said the Kingdom could be competitive on the global tour.

"If you do get a core spot you know that you've got a good period of time to prepare before you actually embark on the first one, which is in Dubai," Weightman said.

The team was thrashed scoreless by Uganda 29 – 0 and beaten by Germany 24 – 21.

Team Tonga escaped Jamaica 14 – 5.

Tonganow Online reports the loss means Tonga will not be a core team in the next World Rugby Sevens Series. The last time Tonga played in the main draw of the Hong Kong 7s tournament was in 2011.

Sosefo Ma’ake was a standout player, scoring two tries and successfully converting all of Tonga’s five tries in the tournament.

Spain won the qualifying tournament, after defeating Germany 12 – 7.

Results

RNZI reports the Polynesian rivals go head to head in tonight's opening game of the tournament in Monaco and are among 16 teams competing for the final berth in Rio.

Samoa are the tournament's top seeds after finishing ninth on the recent World Series, including victory in the Paris leg.

A last ditch effort by the Kingdom 7s Support Group to secure the support of Papua New Guinea bank BSP was turned down last Friday.

The bank said it could not support the team because of the Tonga Rugby Union’s poor management record.