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Prime Minister Christopher Luxon stepped out at the Pacific Islands Forum on Wednesday to play rugby with some young female players from Tonga.
The New Zealand Government is donating $110,000 to New Zealand Rugby and the Tonga Rugby Union to encourage female participation in rugby on the three outer islands of Vava’u, Ha’apai and Ewa.
The promotion of women’s sports in Tonga is of particular importance because Government tells Tonga high school girls should not play sports Because it goes against their dignity in 2018.
Luxon took to the field this afternoon to do some rugby drills with some of the players, which included a challenge to “walk past” a young lady’s defence and onto the scoring line, which he did.
Some of the players RNZ spoke to said they dreamed of one day representing Tonga, with one player saying he got into the tournament through his brother.
“My brother used to play rugby and then I saw him playing rugby so I wanted to play rugby too,” she said.
Tongan Prime Minister Siosi Sovalenei Huakavameliku also attended today’s event and exchanged rugby shirts with Luxon; Luxon presented him with a Tongan “number 1” shirt, while the New Zealand Prime Minister presented him with an All Blacks shirt with his name on it.
Luxon’s wife Amanda also received a shirt and after asking if her shirt had the same personalised design as her husband’s, she joked that she was the real number one.
Funded by the Pacific Sports Development Fund, funded by the International Data Center (IDC), the rugby project will fund a promotional campaign featuring high-profile rugby players, a women’s short program and a sevens tournament for juniors.
Source: RNZ
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