The Tonga Rugby World Cup squad will take part in their ninth tournament in France after beating Hong Kong during the Asia / Pacific 1 qualifying play-off.

The nation have never made it out of the pool stages and face a tough battle with defending champions South Africa, world No 1s Ireland and an in-form Scotland all within their pool.

However, thanks to a change in World Rugby’s eligibility regulations the side will feature names such as George Moala and Malakai Fekitoa who were previously part of the All Blacks set-up.

In 2019, Tonga came dangerously close to upsetting France with a slim 23-21 loss and finished above the United States thanks to a 31-19 victory.

Check out who made the cut in the Tonga Rugby World Cup squad below – and see the full list of Rugby World Cup fixtures here.

Tonga Rugby World Cup squad 2023

This section on the squad selections will be updated with the full Tonga squad as soon as it is officially announced.

Tonga Rugby World Cup Pool

Tonga have been drawn in Rugby World Cup Pool B alongside reigning champions South Africa, Ireland, Scotland and Romania.

Sat 16 Sept Tonga v Ireland  (Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes)

Sun 24 Sept Tonga v Scotland (Stade de Nice, Nice)

Sun 1 Oct Tonga v South Africa (Stade Vélodrome, Marseille)

Sun 8 Oct Tonga v Romania (Stade Pierre Mauroy, Lille)

The knockout stages will follow the same format as previous years, with teams from Pools A and B then Pools C and D meeting in the quarter-finals. So Wales and England could meet in the last eight, for example.

QF1 – Winner Pool C v Runner-up Pool D
QF2 – Winner Pool B v Runner-up Pool A
QF3 – Winner Pool D v Runner-up Pool C
QF4 – Winner Pool A v Runner-up Pool B

Then the semi-finals will be the Winner of QF1 v Winner QF2 and the Winner QF3 v Winner QF4.

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