Matches between the two Pacific nations were hard fought; many have claimed that the ancient feuding wars between the Islanders were transplanted onto the rugby field.

Tonga beat New Zealand Maori[1] in 1969, but had to wait until 1973 before they played their second test match, a 30–12 defeat against Australia in Sydney.

The following year they traveled to the Arms Park for a non-cap international against Wales, a game that ended in a 26–7 defeat.

They remained a little-known quantity in Europe until 1986, when Wales embarked on a tour of Fiji, Tonga and Western Samoa.

Robert Jones describes the event in his book Raising The Dragon as "the worst brawl I have ever seen on a rugby field."

The previous meeting, plus the decision to rest some of the leading players, led to a poor Welsh performance though they managed to win 29–16.

In 1994 they won the South Pacific championship on try count and so qualified for the Super 10, in which they finished bottom of their pool with only one point.

The win over the Côte d'Ivoire brought tragedy when Ivorian winger Max Brito was left paralyzed.

As a result, they had to play home and away matches against Papua New Guinea, which they won 47–14 and 84–12, followed by a play-off against South Korea, who finished as runners-up in the Asian section.

In 2007 Tonga participated in the 2007 Rugby World Cup, winning two of their pool matches and nearly defeating the eventual champions, South Africa, before losing 30–25.

[4] On 24 November 2012, Tonga beat Scotland, at Pittodrie Stadium, 21–15 for their first victory over a traditional rugby power on a European pitch.

Like several Pacific rugby nations, Tonga has a pre-game war dance, called the Sipi Tau.

Below is table of the representative rugby matches played by a Tongan national XV at test level up until 16 November 2024.