The 'Ikale Tahi faces the mighty All Blacks [1]
Wednesday, September 7, 2011 - 10:37. Updated on Monday, September 9, 2013 - 18:40.
Editor,
LET me salute the Tongans of Aotearoa for the greatest welcome ever of a Rugby World Cup team. But allow me to chip in a timely reminder to the 'Ikale Tahi.
Our ancestors roam the greatest of the world oceans. They forged a sea of islands into an empire comparable in size with all the great ones of human civilization. But as fluidity as the ocean it was created on, our oral history and cultural practices and its conceptual fundamentals testify to the greatness of our achievements as a people.
In recent times, our sea of islands has managed to maintain our significance in a world that forged itself out of human greed and desire for power and dominance, where we struggle to maintain our independence in soul, mind and body. Not often we have the opportunity to come face to face with the best in the world in any field of human endeavor. Not often we have the opportunity to prove ourselves as worthy opponent, let alone a force to be reckoned with. Facing the mighty All Black in their home turf at the opening of the Rugby World Cup is one of these rare opportunities.
The world of rugby fans in terms of ticket sold have brushed aside Tonga vs New Zealand as a mere formality in favor of the All Black. But the Rugby World forgets that this is the 'Ikale Tahi (Sea Eagle) sea of Islands, its ocean home, so sacred to its ancestors. This is not an ordinary rugby match. This is a duel for supremacy; it is a providence of war. Victory is our desired outcome, nothing less.
Take your warrior heart to the field, let your physical prowess honed your skills into a lethal mind body combination manifest the harmony in the art of overpowering your opponent; let him remember you from this day on, as an opponent with a calm but calculated mind and skills of an assassin.
Fly high mighty Sea Eagle
'Ofa mo e manatu ma'u,
'Inoke Fotu Huakau
President
Tongan Association Inc,
Sydney, Australia
inoke [at] 2000fm [dot] com ( inoke [at] 2000fm [dot] com)