The stakes in Samoa’s Rugby League World Cup meeting with Tonga reach beyond a place in the semi-finals. For the players stepping into this rivalry, the occasion connects childhood memories, family journeys and a Pacific community spread across the world. A grand final may decide a season. This fixture, Francis Manuleleua says, reaches deeper than football.
Manuleleua knows how sharply the meaning of the matchup can change. Four years ago, he was 18 and watching the previous World Cup meeting on his phone from his bedroom in South Auckland. Samoa held on to win 20-18. He grabbed a flag and went out into the street, caught up in the celebrations—and in a new idea of which jersey he wanted to wear.
“Growing up I was always picked in the Kiwi teams, Under 16s and Under 18s and that, so there was a feeling of wanting to pull on that black jersey in either league or union,” he said. “But after that 2022 World Cup, seeing all the boys play, how much it meant to them, that's when it changed for me and I thought to myself ‘this is the jersey I'd want to put on if I ever get the opportunity’.”
From the crowd to the field
Manuleleua is now part of the Samoa side he once cheered. His path echoes those of Sua Fa’alogo and Leka Halasima, two other young players whose ties to these teams began long before they wore their jerseys in a major match.
Fa’alogo was born in the Samoan village of Si’umu and lived there until he was nine. His parents then moved the family to Melbourne, seeking better opportunities for him and his eight siblings. He joined Samoan celebrations after the 2022 World Cup, part of a crowd that followed the team’s success wherever Samoans had settled.
Halasima was born in Tofoa, Tonga, and moved to New Zealand as a boy. In 2024, only months after making his NRL debut, he watched Samoa and Tonga meet in the Pacific Championship. Tonga, known as Mate Ma’a, won 25-24. The following year, Halasima was sharing a field with players he had watched as a fan.
“Then the next year I was playing with them,” he said.
Now 21, the Warriors forward is playing alongside childhood heroes and taking on a visible role in the team’s next chapter. He has followed the rivalry since the 2017 World Cup and describes playing beside Jason Taumalolo, whom he calls “Jase,” as an honour and a privilege. The shift from spectator to teammate gives the contest a personal dimension: the figures who once made the occasion matter are now his fellow players.
That relationship between supporters and players is part of what makes the fixture stand out. Tonga and Samoa can meet far from their home islands and still draw people who see the teams as an expression of belonging. Their histories and cultures remain distinct, while centuries of connection have also bound them through family, trade and faith. That shared history continues across the Pasifika diaspora.
A match that travels with its people
The rivalry’s reach has been visible in the crowds. A Samoa-Tonga game in Brisbane last year attracted more than 45,000 people, with an atmosphere described as the State of Origin of the new century. A previous World Cup meeting took place in Warrington, England. The next one is set for Parramatta, where another large gathering of supporters is expected.
For Halasima, the draw alone made the match one to anticipate. “Since the draw came out, I've been thinking of this day. I'm pretty sure every islander around the world can't wait for it,” he said. “This is pretty much finals footy, this is what it's all about.”
Manuleleua had already played in the NRL grand final for Newcastle earlier in the month. He still sees the Samoa-Tonga clash as a different kind of test. “This will probably be the biggest game I've ever been a part of it. A grand final is pretty big too, but the rivalry between Samoa and Tonga runs deeper than footy,” he said.
His description of the rivalry is frank, but also bounded by the game. “A few of my mates are Tongan, and we know deep down we have that hatred for each other when it comes to coming up against them,” he said. “As soon as we cross that white line there's no friends, but after those 80 minutes we'll get together, have a beer and everything will be all sweet.”
The teams bring different strengths into the contest. Tonga is described as bigger, stronger and more battle-hardened; Samoa has speed and attacking threat, qualities it showed in a large win the previous year. Tonga had already secured a semi-final place. Samoa’s position could depend on the England-Papua New Guinea result before kick-off. Those factors shape the tournament stakes, but they don’t account for the full pull of the match.
Family in the stands, history on the field
For the players, the crowd includes the people who helped make their careers possible. Manuleleua’s parents are travelling from Auckland. Halasima expects his partner and newborn son, along with parents, sisters, aunts and uncles coming from New Zealand and Melbourne.
Fa’alogo’s father, Eti, will see him play for Melbourne or Samoa in person for the first time. His presence makes the occasion particularly meaningful for the 23-year-old, whose parents brought him from Si’umu to Melbourne when he was a child.
“I can't wait. He's done so much for me,” Fa’alogo said. “I just want to give back to him for everything he did, for bringing me over and trying to give me the opportunity for a better life.”
Fa’alogo returned to Si’umu earlier in the year on a trip with the Storm. He visited his former house and school and caught up with family. Since his NRL debut in 2023, followed a few months later by his Samoa debut, children have often followed him around. The attention is a reminder that a young player’s profile can carry meaning well beyond the club or national side he represents.
Manuleleua, Fa’alogo and Halasima are among the new faces carrying this contest forward. They grew up watching its earlier chapters, then became part of the story themselves. Their paths—from South Auckland, Si’umu, Tofoa, Melbourne and New Zealand to the international field—reflect how these teams represent communities that span multiple homes.
That’s why the result will matter beyond the tournament table. The players will compete for 80 minutes, with family and supporters watching from the stands and from across the diaspora. Then the rivalry will return to the people who have carried it from one generation to the next.
The history between Tonga and Samoa includes centuries of connection through love, blood and faith.
The teams’ sense of home travels wherever they play.
A previous World Cup meeting between Samoa and Tonga took place in Warrington.
