Chris Satae has explained how proud he was to represent Tonga in the Combined Nations All-Stars match against England at the Halliwell Jones Stadium on Saturday.
The prop forward came off the bench for Ellery Hanley’s side in the mid-season international affair, where the All-Stars wore a special, Tonga themed jersey to help raise funds for the nation that was hit by a tsunami earlier in the year.
Satae, who was involved in the designing of the special jersey, was speaking to Tim Steere and Paul Cooke on BBC Radio Humberside’s Sportstalk last night, describing how proud he was to represent Tonga at the weekend.
“It meant everything to me. I am so grateful to all of the organisers and everyone behind the scenes for helping set up this game for our little nation back home,” Satae told BBC Radio Humberside.
“For all of us islanders that took part in the game, it was a very emotional and empowering moment.
“The kit designers put up some pretty good ideas, asking us what kind of patterns would be best and the meanings behind all of them.
“There were most of the other boys like Albert Vete from KR and Konrad Hurrell from St Helens who were involved in the design, also.
“I was quite insistent on the words on the back of the jersey. ‘Ofa ki Tonga’ translated in English basically means love for Tonga and that really touched me. I’m really sure everyone home in Tonga appreciated that.”
England ran out 18-4 winners against the All-Stars on Saturday, a good test for all involved ahead of the Rugby League World Cup later in the year.
It was the second consecutive year that England met the All-Stars, and Satae explained how important it was for him to represent his heritage.
“All of the boys really enjoyed coming together to represent our different heritages,” he said.
“It was good to test ourselves against the elite-level players that England have.
“It was especially special this year with the cause behind the All-Stars team and it really meant a lot to me to be involved in that squad.”
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