The final score in this week's Scotland v Tonga Pool B match at the Rugby World Cup was 45-17 in Scotland's favour, but Scottish head coach Gregor Townsend says the 'Ikale Tahi were a 'very good test' for his side. Photo: AFP / CHRISTOPHE SIMON
First Person - Gregor Townsend, Scottish head coach and rugby legend, surveyed the press conference in front of him. It had been 15 minutes of questions about Scotland's renewed quarterfinal chances and the state of his injured players.
"Anything about the game?" he wondered aloud.
It was the final question, and suddenly my hand was up. I wasn't planning on asking a question, in fact I was sitting on the edge of the front row, near the exit.
None of the 20 journalists seemed to have any interest in what Scotland thought of Tonga - apart from discussing red and yellow cards - but Townsend had opened his remarks by saying: "Tonga are a very good side, got very good individuals, and they're very physical."
There were four Pacific journalists who covered the Rugby World Cup 2023 Group A match between Scotland and Tonga, played at Stade de Nice. But I was the only one in the press conference room, and that's really stretching the definition of "journalist" further than an unrolled pain au raisin.
To be fair to the other three, World Rugby's somewhat unimaginative organisational prowess meant that whoever stuck around for the Scottish press conference was likely to miss the teams in the press mixer before they boarded the team bus. So that left us: the British press, the French officials, the Scottish coach, and a guy with a fried chicken podcast.
I really wanted to know what Townsend had learned from playing Tonga, and that was all the excuse he needed.
"Yeah, I think Tonga really tested us in the areas where there's contact. So the rucks, they're a very good jackling (stealing at the breakdown) side. They ended up getting a few against us, more in the second half. I think they had six against Ireland. So, they have a huge presence there.
"They're very quick at winning the ball and they're hard to move. The scrum was a real competitive area. I thought we did very well and started to dominate there."
The final score was 45-17 in Scotland's favour, so you might think he was having a laugh, bordering on being facetious. But Townsend was absolutely respectful to the 'Ikale Tahi and the fact that, up to around the 55th minute, there were only seven points in the game.
I didn't ask any follow-ups, he just kept going.
"And I thought their ball carrying was really good. Forwards with real skill, backline players aggressive. So, it's a very good test for us."
Scotland could have scored 60 points but, for almost two thirds of the game, it was also on the cards they might lose.
It is the second week in a row that Tonga have gone all out against their opposition before being seemingly spent in the final third of the match.
Yes, they are losing and, in terms of points, losing big. The way in which they are losing matters though, especially to their fans back home. The 'Ikale Tahi are going down swinging, but they are competing against and - at times - dominating top-level opponents.
"I think we're tracking the right way; we'll take each game as it comes," Tongan coach Toutai Kefu said.
"We'll keep punching away and keep doing our best."
Of the three Pacific teams, Tonga have never made the knockout stages. That is a perplexing situation when you consider the history of rugby players with Tongan heritage; Kefu himself is a World Cup champion with the Wallabies in 1999.
What is also perplexing is the lack of media coverage or local support of Tonga. Considering France was more than willing to claim Jonah Lomu's sons as part of their bid to host the tournament, it is unfortunate they have not followed that up by supporting the country of his parents.
Of the four Pacific journalists covering Tonga only one is Tongan, and he lives in the US.
There are no Tongan-based media in France, and that is partly due to the same issues that have affected the rugby team: distance and money. That lack of media means there is no framing of the Tongan experience by its own countrymen. Tonga's geography and population size make it difficult to budget having a crew in Europe for almost two months.
However, representation matters and, in the interest of growing the game, perhaps it's time World Rugby intervened.
To the immediate argument that if you help Tongan media, then you have to help the other poorer nations - so do that. To quote Gregor Townsend, this is the marquee showcase for the sport: a sport that became a global sensation because a Tongan New Zealander electrified the 1995 World Cup.
A year later, Townsend got to experience Lomu first-hand when the All Blacks stomped all over Scotland in two tests.
World Rugby does not owe the Tongan team any favours. But the Tongan people are another matter, and each match the disconnect is getting larger.
* James Nokise is a comedian, rugby fan and the producer, writer and host of Fair Game: Pacific Rugby Against the World.
