Tonga's National Tag Rugby Team is also known as ''Laione Hau''. The figurative symbol of the lion is synonymous with The

King of Tonga This is a list of monarchs of Tonga since 1845, after the Constitution of Tonga established the role of the monarch. The first constitutional monarch of Tonga was George Tupou I. 2008 cession of powers Three days before his coronation on 1 ...

and historic battles fought and conquered by Tongan kings and

warrior A warrior is a guardian specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal society, tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracy, social class, class, or caste. History ...

s. The governing body for

tag rugby file:Tag.Rugby.Belt.jpg, Tag-rugby belt Tag rugby, Flag rugby or Rippa rugby is a non-contact team game in which each player wears a belt that has two velcro tags attached to it, or shorts with velcro patches. The mode of play is based on rugby l ...

flag football Flag football is a variant of gridiron football (American football or Canadian football depending on location) where, instead of Tackle (football move)#Gridiron football, tackling players to the ground, the defensive team must remove a flag or ...

for Tonga is called Tonga Tag. Tag rugby is the original creation of this growing sport. In most parts of The United States and Canada they called it flag football or

American flag rugby American flag rugby (AFR) is a mixed-gender, non-contact version of rugby union played in the United States, and is a variant of the sport Tag Rugby. American flag rugby is designed for American children entering grades K–9. The organization its ...

. An increasing number of countries participate in the sport of tag rugby, including Australia, England, Ireland, New Zealand, USA, France, Samoa,

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

Niue Niue is a self-governing island country in free association with New Zealand. It is situated in the South Pacific Ocean and is part of Polynesia, and predominantly inhabited by Polynesians. One of the world's largest coral islands, Niue is c ...

, Fiji and Tonga. The International Woman's Flag Football Association also runs a tournament that involves countries like the United States, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Mexico. Tonga Tag plays most variants of tag rugby and flag football; tag rugby is the most predominant in Tonga. Although Tonga has been represented in the past, they have been residential teams. Laione Hau or Tonga Tag is the first official Tonga national tag team.Tonga Tag™ , Wix.com
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Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

for the National Tag team consists of two golden lions facing each other depicting Loyalty. Between the lions is a shield presenting the Tongan flag with a water mark of a

rugby ball A rugby ball is an elongated ellipsoidal ball used in both codes of rugby football. Its measurements and weight are specified by World Rugby and the Rugby League International Federation, the governing bodies for both codes, rugby union and rugby ...

. Above the shield and the lions is the royal crown. Tonga Tag

Motto

''Otua mo Tonga'' (God and Tonga)

History

Tag rugby is a new sport in

Tongatapu Tongatapu is the main island of Tonga and the site of its capital, Nukuʻalofa, Nukualofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with 74,611 residents (2016), 70.5% o ...

but widely played around the world. Tag rugby was developed from the sport

Rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

. Until recently, tag was not widely known or played locally in Tonga. The sport was introduced approximately in 2007, but lack of supervision and development throughout the Kingdom of Tonga caused participation in the sport to decline. In October 2011, tag rugby was reintroduced in Tonga with an innovating difference to cement tag rugby as a bonfire sport and become internationally competitive. In January 2012, Tonga entered the first official tag team into the Tag

Pacific Cup The Pacific Cup was a rugby league football competition, inaugurated in 1974, as a development competition for national teams from the Pacific region outside of Australia and New Zealand. The tournament ceased in 2009. In 2019, a similar com ...

held and hosted by New Zealand in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. One team was entered, an open men's team. Tag rugby is becoming a popular sport and reviving great interests from

athletes An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including trac ...

of Tongan descent to represent their mother land. Although tag is at a grass roots level in Tonga, many athletes residing outside of Tonga play proficiently and represent other developed national teams such as Australia, Ireland, England and New Zealand. TongaTag

Stepping stone

In 2010, Tag rugby was reintroduced hoping to develop further through the Kingdom. In October 2011, the sport of tag was registered in Tonga by Caroline Matamua and the first official Tonga National Tag Team was born. The Tonga national governing body for all codes and variants of tag for Tonga is called Tonga National Tag Association, or Tonga Tag™. February 2012, Tonga Tag entered two teams. First Official Under20s and first Official Open men's. Both reaching quarter finals. 1–2 March 2013, Tonga Tag entered four teams. U20s, Open Men's, first Official Open Women's and First Official Open Mixed. All reaching Semis. 22 February 2014, First Junior Pacific Cup (5yrs-16yrs) Tonga entered 3 teams. FirstU8s, U12s, U14s. Tonga under8s won the grade, CURRENT U8 Champions. U12s and U14s went through to semis. Over all placings for tournament was 3rd. 8–9 February 2014,*Senior Pacific Cup – Tonga entered only one team. The Under 16yrs team was not entered into the Junior Pacific Cup but entered into the Senior Pacific Cup. Tonga beat New Zealand in the semis to play New Zealand Barbarians in the Cup Finals. NZ Barbarians winning Cup final, runner up Tonga.

History of coaches and management (2005–2011)

Listed below are all New Zealand residential teams of Tongan descent representing Tonga.

2012 – Pacific Cup

First Official Tonga National Tag Team

2013 – Pacific Cup

Pacific Cup 2014

=First Junior Pacific Cup

Upcoming events

* Tag rugby – The International Tag Cup in Gold Coast, Australia. * Tag football – Tag World Cup, New Zealand.

References

{{reflist
Laione Hau™ Tonga Nation Tag Team

"Pacific Cup 2012". Tag20.
Retrieved 2012-05-28.

External links

* http://tongatag.wix.com/tonga-tag#!home/mainPage * http://www.sportsground.co.nz/tongatag * http://www.tagrugbyevents.org/ Tonga and the Commonwealth of Nations Variations of rugby league Rugby league in Tonga