camp on a chilly Saturday morning in Hamilton. "I know he'd take those comments back and not say it the way he did. I took it personally that game. "I know Blairy is a passionate leader for New Zealand. But you draw a line with some of the things he said. It came with how passionate he was about the New Zealand jersey and I can understand why he was so fired up and made the comments he made. "I think we were lucky enough to get the win that day.'' Grudge match: Taumalolo takes on the team he turned his back on, New Zealand, at the World Cup. Credit:AAP

Tonga went within a whisker of qualifying for the World Cup final against Australia, only to lose a semi-finalthriller against England. The atmosphere that night at Mt Smart Stadium was electric – widely rated as among the best in recent years. The crowd was so loud Taumalolo said the players had to repeat their on-field calls and often run over to each other to hear properly. "Seeing the sea of red actually topped the atmosphere at the 2015 grand final,'' he says. It will be the same deal when Tonga play an historic Test against Australia at Mt Smart Stadium next Saturday. It will be a sellout. But we'll get to the Aussies soon.

First you have to back up and delve a little deeper into why Taumalolo decided to join Tonga. Like what motivated the 25-year-old wrecking ball to go from representing New Zealand in the