Tonga A national rugby union team Tonga A national rugby union team Tonga A is a national representative rugby union team of the Tongan rugby union. It is the second-tier side to the Tonga national rugby union team. Tonga A competes in the in the Pacific Challenge, formerly known as the Pacific Rugby Cup, against teams including Samoa A and Fiji Warriors. Since 2017, the team has also competed in the Americas Pacific Challenge. Between 2006 and 2010, Tonga was represented by two teams at the Pacific Rugby Cup; Tau'uta Reds and Tautahi Gold. In 2010, Tonga A played three matches against other national A teams
History of rugby union in the United States in favor of rugby. The "Big Game" American football rivalry between Cal and Stanford was played as a rugby match instead of American football from 1906 to 1914 (1906 was notable for being the first year that American football had legalized the forward pass, a system that would become a distinguishing characteristic in the American game that is not present in rugby). Rugby union grew on the West Coast, and as many as 26,000 spectators regularly attended matches between the University of California and Stanford University. During this era, rugby was perceived as having the potential to challenge American football