For those of you who don't know what Rugby League is, it is a game similar to Rugby Union but unlike Rugby Union which has 15 players in one team, Rugby League only has 13.
I wouldn't say that it is the most popular sport in the world with only one country claiming the sport as their national sport. That country is Papua New Guinea.
The final at the time of writing hasn't been played. That game will be between the old foes, Australia and England.
Undoubtedly the darling team of the tournament has been Tonga.
There was a bit of controversy before the tournament started as some star players from Australia and New Zealand changed their allegiance at the last minute and decided to play for Tonga.
I think this decision by some of these players has made the tournament very interesting as now instead of it being, as always a three horse race between Australia, England and New Zealand, now become arguably a five horse race with Fiji, and Tonga in the mix.
And so that proved correct with both Tonga and Fiji making the semi-finals.
Whereas Fiji was beaten comfortably by pre-tournament favourites Australia, undoubtedly the best and most controversial game of the tournament was the other semi-final between England and Tonga.
England had a comfortable 20-0 lead going into the last eight minutes of the game when all hell broke loose. Tonga scored 3 tries in five minutes to bring the score back to 20-18 with about a minute to play.
In the final minute a Tongan player was rampaging towards the line looking to win the game. It looked like he scored but the referee disallowed the try that would have won the game.
Naturally both the Tongan team and the 30,0000 Tongan fans in the crowd were not happy. But the score was in the book and the England team was off to the final in Brisbane, Australia.
In the aftermath of the match, there was a peaceful protest in downtown Auckland attracting thousands of people on the next two days.
This got me thinking.
Are the Tongans getting together because they generally believe that they were denied the win on the weekend or is it just another chance to get together as the previous few weeks have been so fun that they want to more fun with their mates and it is the place to be seen?
I would say that it is a bit of both. I would say that for a small percentage they are genuinely angry about the result of the game and the final play of the game and that is fair enough but I think that for most of them it has been a great six weeks and they don't want it to end so it was a great chance to get out there and meet their friends and really celebrate their heritage.
As far as I see it the Tongan fans just wanted the party to continue and if they are not being a nuisance and holding up traffic and the like then all power to them. They are not be violent and aggressive so as long as that is the case their is nothing wrong with it.
It is a bunch of extroverts having a great time and I have no problem with it whatsoever.
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