Rugby is more than just a sport in Tonga; it is a way of life. From the moment they can walk, the kids are introduced to the rugby ball
Lesieli, Siua and Sisi play a game of touch rugby by the beach at Popua on July 20, 2023, in Nuku’alofa while their families are fishing on the reef.
Image: Nuku Alofa, Tonga
On the rocky foreshore of Popua, the poorest area of the Tongan capital Nuku'alofa, a group of girls and boys are tossing around a rugby ball.
Siua, 13, and 11-year-olds Lesieli and Sisi play catch and run across sharp stones as their families fish on the reef,searching for dinner.
It used to be a pretty beach before it was destroyed by a powerful tsunami during the Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha'apai eruption last year.
The tsunami washed away many homes in the Popua neighbourhood and damaged their fishing grounds, yet the families return on a rainy day and the kids throw the ball around, their heads spinning with hopes for a better future.
For young Tongans rugby is a potential meal ticket, a way off the rocks and into the riches on offer in the professional game in Australia and New Zealand or further afield in Japan or Europe.