World Cup build up

The invitational from the Tonga coach Toutai Kefu comes just a week out from the start of the Western Force's National Rugby Championship season.

Western Force coach Tim Sampson says it will be a very special occasion for his team which also features two Tongans.

"Obviously playing a national team is a huge honour for the club and it is something that we are really looking forward to. It doesn't happen often these days where club plays country," Tim Sampson said.

The result means the All Blacks climb back above Wales to top of the world rankings despite the weekend's record defeat to the Wallabies.

An England line-up featuring only a handful of regular first-choice starters overpowered Wales thanks to tries from Billy Vunipola, Joe Cokanasiga and Luke Cowan-Dickie, as well as flawless kicking from captain and flyhalf George Ford.

This month the Court of Arbitration for Sport will hold a hearing into the eligibility of Chris Satu.

Satu represented Solomon Islands during the Oceania Football Confederation Under 16 Championship in 2018.

However this year the OFC found Satu was born prior to 2002, and his participation breached their disciplinary code.

This originally cost Solomon Islands its berth at the U17 World Cup which is to be held in Brazil in October.

But the Solomons successfully appealed that ruling prompting the OFC to now take the matter to the Court of Arbitration of Sport.

The Brave Blossoms put aside the absence of their head coach, an early yellow card to Kotaro Matsushima and some worrying penalties to ensure Tonga was never in the Pacific Nations Cup game at Hanazono Rugby Stadium on Saturday, finishing as 41-7 winners in stifling heat and humidity.

With the forwards showing the benefits of the Miyazaki “Camp of Hell,” and the backs making good use of the balls that came their way, the Brave Blossoms put in a performance that will have worried their World Cup Pool A opponents, particularly with the speed at which they played the game.