From thousands of Sāmoan flags in Auckland to one in New Plymouth, Sela Jane Hopgood compares the two cities during the Rugby League World Cup.

If you’re a Pacific person living in Aotearoa, chances are your social media newsfeed has been flooded with proud Sāmoans parading the streets of South Auckland, of Porirua, around Apia, in Melbourne and Brisbane.

In case you’ve been living under a coconut shell, the Rugby League World Cup has been in full swing since October 15 with the finals set to take place this weekend. The wheelchair final between France and England will be on Friday. The following day, Australia will take on Toa Sāmoa for the men’s final and the Kiwi Ferns will face the Jillaroos in the women’s.

Sāmoa upset my beloved Mate Ma’a Tonga in the quarter finals and then upset England in the semis. Their fans have barely slept in celebrating a grand final appearance at the World Cup. 

I grew up in Māngere during a time where Faumuinā To’aletai Mafaufau David Tua would win a boxing match and after the press conference later that night, cars would go up and down Robertson Road, beeping with pride. Tongans in Tāmaki Makaurau showed up in large numbers for their team at the previous Rugby League World Cup. The crowd that was at Auckland International Airport when Mate Ma’a Tonga touched down is still vivid in my head. The selling out of flags, various red costumes and decked out vehicles definitely set the tone for all Pacific nations when it comes to supporting their homeland.

The streets of South Auckland and Porirua in particular have been a non-stop parade of Sāmoan flags and jubilant dancing. I would love to be part of all the fun, the proud waving of flags and the spectacle of watching a proud man walk with his lawn mower (with a Sāmoan flag attached), but I can’t.

I live in New Plymouth.

Not one tractor has been spotted with the red and blue flag.

In the past month, there has been ONE car with a large Sāmoan flag spotted in this coastal city and I have proudly beeped at the family in support because the Tongan in me can’t contain her excitement. Thankfully, the Sāmoans in the car understood the assignment and responded with a melodic toot back.

Other than the one encounter, the only time I remember there’s a league game on is when I jump on TikTok or Instagram, where every second video has a Sāmoan flag waving around to Victor J Sefo & Poetik’s song ‘685’.

This is a strange experience for me. It feels like I’m living in a different country being so removed from parades. I’m gutted I can’t witness the Sāmoan pride in person as I have done in the past with the Tongan community. Devon Street East is eerily quiet compared to Bairds Road in Ōtara. I didn’t feel the urgency this time round to put a Tongan flag up on my car because of my surroundings.

In the past few weeks in New Plymouth, the only buzz happening here was the Taranaki Garden Festival and the ugly Education House finally being demolished. The first passenger train organised by the Feilding and District Steam Rail Society to come to New Plymouth since July stopped by over the weekend with 250 passengers.

I anticipate this weekend will not only be an incredible weekend of footy especially with the Kiwi Ferns landing a spot in the finals, but there will definitely be large gatherings of Sāmoans proudly parading regardless of the score. I’ll be in New Plymouth, watching it all unfold on social media and missing the loud Pacific pride of my birthplace.

This is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.