Some Dark

Tonga Tipped For Rugby

Horses At

The Games

Tonga’s best hope of winning

a gold medal at the South Pacific Games may rest with its rugby team.

TONGA built a strong, determined team to beat Fiji in 1959, and if most players of that team are still playing, it will be hard to beat.

Tonga's game is based on hard slog ging play in the forwards to wear the opposition down, giving the backs a chance late in the game.

Boxing is another field in which Tonga will probably do well, particu larly in the heavier divisions.

Because of lack of detailed infor mation about the capabilities of sportsmen in American Samoa, Niue, the Solomons, Gilbert and Ellice Islands. French Polynesia and the New Hebrides, it is difficult to assess the chances of those territories at the Games.

Other Territories However, it can safely be said that American Samoa will probably put up a good showing in basketball as basketballers there get plenty of prac tice against US Navy teams.

Unless athletes from Niue, the Solomons and the New Hebrides pull some unexpected performances out of the hat, it looks on paper as if their chief purpose will be to gain ex perience and show the flag.

The dark horse of the Games could well be French Polynesia. This terri tory will have a strong contingent of 48 athletes, whose performances, ex ceot in soccer, are little known in other parts of the Pacific. In soccer.

French Polynesia will undoubtedly provide New Caledonia and Fiji with strong onoosition.

The GEIC’s contingent, a small one. may show out in athletic events, as four of the athletes, currentlv working at Nauru, have been training under former Australian Olympian R.

Morgan Morris. In trials for the Games, they are reported to have produced “most reasonable times”.

Nauru. which will have the smallest Games team, could well carry off a disproportionate number of medals as one of its four represen tatives will be Morgan Morris, who has no doubt passed on much of his Olympic know-how to the other three.