Jethro Felemi News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

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.

“Not from our side of the coin,” he said. “It’s a test match, they’re representing their country, and we expect the same passion we’d expect out of any international team.” In many ways what happens on Saturday night (the All Blacks have an average winning score of 70-7 against the Tongans) is irrelevant. This, and the following two weeks against a more capable Fiji outfit, are mere stepping stones for what Foster hopes will be a return to the mountaintop in 2021. The coach has set the No 1 world ranking as this team’s driving ambition, and after failing to win half of thei...