Tongan national rugby league team
| Association | Tonga National Rugby League | ||
| Trainer | Kristian Woolf | ||
| captain | Sika Manu | ||
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Most international matches Duane Mann (16) |
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First international 34:16 Samoa (1986)  |
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Highest Win 62: 0 Tokelau (December 2006) |
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Biggest defeat 0:74 New Zealand (October 27, 1999)  |
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World Championship participations: 5 Best results: Semi-finals 2017 |
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The Tongan national rugby league team , also known by its nickname Mate Ma'a , represents Tonga on an international level in the sport of rugby league . It is one of the strongest national teams in the world and regularly takes part in the Rugby League World Cup.
history
Tonga completed its first international game in 1986, defeating Samoa 34:16. In 1994 the team won their first international title with the Pacific Cup . In 1995 the Mate Ma'a made their World Cup premiere, but failed very closely in the preliminary round to New Zealand . Five years later , Tonga lost out to Papua New Guinea and France . In 2008 it was again not enough for the knockout phase, although Tonga had triumphed in the Pacific Cup for the second time two years earlier . At the 2013 World Cup , the team was eliminated again in the group stage after a narrow defeat against Scotland . In 2017 , the team caused a sensation when they defeated New Zealand in the preliminary round of the World Cup and advanced to the semi-finals. There they lost against the favored Englishmen with 18:20, because an attempt by Tonga in the last second of the game was not recognized by the referee.