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Tonga 'just making ends meet' ahead of facing financial might of England

September 22, 2019

The team with the most funding face the side with the least later tonight.

When Tonga and England face off in tonight's Rugby World Cup clash in Sapporo, the starkest contrast of funding will be on display in a David meets Goliath encounter.

When teams arrived at this year's World Cup in Japan, World Rugby requirements mean that each nation's funding must be disclosed.

England find themselves atop the list, a funding budget of around NZ $6m, Tonga meanwhile sit at the very bottom of that same list.

Should Eddie Jones' England win the World Cup, a bonus payout of over $13m will be split between the squad, working out at around $800 per minute.

Opponents Tonga will get no such boost, thankful just to have a place to train. Despite that though Tonga insist that money is not the reason why they play.

"I don't even know if we've got a budget at the moment we're just making ends meet sometimes," winger Telusa Veainu told 1 NEWS.

"There's always disruptions to our plans to our week, kit goes missing or we don't have a bus or boys aren't getting paid."

"For our boys we just need to think about our country and what we're playing for and thats enough of a driver, for everyone that has supported us, our parents our families," assistant coach Pita Alatini said.

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