Sopoaga siblings reconnect with their Cook Islands heritage rnz.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from rnz.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Club teammates will become international rivals in today s Rugby World Cup qualifying match between Tonga and the Cook Islands.
It was only three weeks ago that Ikale Tahi lock Semisi Paea and Cook Islands centre Junior Raia were lining up alongside each other for Ngongotaha in the Bay of Plenty club competition.
Today both players will make their test match debut, but in different colours.
The 22 year old Paea was first called into the Tongan squad in the lead-up to their test against the All Blacks earlier this month and was surprised head coach Toutai Kefu even knew who he was.
Photo: RNZ Pacific/Vinnie Wylie
The team was edged 31-24 by Tasman two weeks ago, in their first competitive match in three years, and outclassed 73-0 by the New Zealand Under-20s side on Saturday.
Meanwhile, an understrength Ikale Tahi suffered back-to-back defeats against Manu Samoa in their World Cup qualifier.
Cook Islands coach Nathan Robinson is a former Cook Islands international himself and said the squad has come a long way in the last few weeks. The cohesion has been really really good from day one, he said. In coming together more often the players will get more familiar with each other, knowing each other s work-ons, what their habits are and having these camps has definitely served its purpose and given us a bit of food for thought long term when we do play other tournaments.
Cook Islands return from rugby wilderness ahead of RWC qualifier rnz.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from rnz.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Pasifika athletes are being encouraged to seek advice before signing contracts with player agents.
Former NRL and Super Rugby player Tupou Sopoaga last month tweeted that two Pasifika players in his club rugby team, who had just come off the back of playing in the Super Rugby Aotearoa Under 20s competition, were feeling stressed after agents had approached them and pressured them to sign on the dotted line.
In my rugby team we have 2 of NZs brightest players that just finished the NZ20s comp.1 of them mentioned he’s a bit stressed after some agents had said, if they don’t sign with them they might not make it. Like come on man! We gotta do better!These are 18yr old kids. Island Kids Tupou Sopoaga (@TeeeSO) April 21, 2021