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Tonga player faces friendly foes

Saturday 17 September 2011, 1:19PM

By Rugby World Cup 2011

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WHANGAREI

Japan-based Tonga player number 8 Viliami Ma’afu will be facing friends on the opposing side next Wednesday when his team play Japan. But it won’t be players from his adopted home but rather his old school friends from Tonga.

“I know No.8, I went to the same primary school back in Tonga, and another player, we went to another school together. There are two Tongans on their team,” Ma’afu said of Sione Vatuvei and Ryukoliniasi Holani .

Ma’afu relocated two years ago from Auckland to play with Mitsubishi in Japan. While it would be fair to assume he has some insider knowledge of the Japan team, in fact there are no Mitsubishi players in the national squad, so his intelligence is limited to his two former school mates.

Not that this means he does not know what to expect from Japan at the next Pool A match. Ma’afu played when Tonga was edged out by Japan 28-27 at Fiji’s National Stadium in July. Japan and Tonga were tied in the Pacific Nations Cup at 10 points apiece on the ladder before Japan won the Tonga v Japan decider with a final minute penalty.

Ma’afu is expecting Japan to attempt to minimise the size difference between the two forward packs by giving the Tonga side the run-around.

“I know a lot about the Japan team,” said Ma’afu. “They love to play really fast rugby. Last time we played them in Fiji, they played a fast game so we would get tired. I’m expecting some of that again.”

Friendly culture

While the two sides’ style of rugby may differ, Ma’afu sees a lot of similarity in the Japanese and Tongan culture.

“The Japanese people are similar to Tongans in a way. They are a really polite and friendly culture”, said the triple international, who has also represented Tonga in tennis and golf.

“There is an old lady who sits outside my apartment. She always says hello and always asks me how I am. It’s really nice.”

After six seasons of provincial rugby, the former Blues player said the nerves he felt when initially relocating to Japan were quickly smoothed out.

“It was a big culture shock when I first got there, but after a couple of months I got used to it. It’s a really good place to live, apart from the earthquakes.”

Tonga meet Japan at Northland Events Centre on Wednesday,