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Posted: 2022-11-05 00:09:04

The Halliwell Jones Stadium in Warrington is about as far from the Pacific Islands as a place can be, but it will soon feel like the centre of the Polynesian universe.

Because they are coming. From the west of Sydney and the south of Auckland, from Brisbane and Melbourne, from Apia and Nuku'alofa, from the islands of Hawai'i and the mountains of Utah, they are all coming.

On Monday at 12:30am (AEST), Tonga will play Samoa for a shot at the World Cup semi-finals and in doing so reignite the most exhilarating rivalry in international rugby league. 

A man celebrates scoring a try in an NRL match
Every time Samoa and Tonga play against each other, the rivalry is fierce but respectful.(Getty Images: Brendon Thorne)

And so the fans will come from all the corners of the Earth as the Polynesian diaspora finds a new home for 80 minutes, and they'll sing like angels and howl like wolves and the flags will fly through the crisp English air as a rivalry that's been going on for thousands of years half a world away begins its next chapter.

"People don't care where the game is, where they're playing, they're just proud – proud of the players who have been picked to play for their country, proud of all the big name players who came back to play for their families," former international John Asiata said.

"You look back home right now, there's parades everywhere, it's gone wild. No matter where they are, they'll be tuning in.

"There'll be some noise. I know a lot of people flew here for the games, Tonga had a big reception when they landed in London.

"I'm not expecting anything different, the English love their footy and this is one they're not going to miss."

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Could it be three Pacific teams in the Rugby League World Cup semi-finals?

Asiata knows both sides of the Tonga-Samoa divide well. Along with Jorge Taufua, he's the only man to have pulled on both jerseys and understand what exists between the two communities.

Sometimes, things have gotten out of hand. There is a history between these two nations that is older than rugby league, as old as the mists of time itself, and those things run deep.

There was violence between rival fans in the lead-up to their meeting at the 2017 World Cup and when Asiata switched from Samoa to Tonga he copped plenty of grief.

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