Tonga will open its Pacific Nations Cup campaign today without the benefit of a pre-tournament hit-out that their rivals Samoa have had.
Manu Samoa played a test against Japan last week and Fiji are hosting Italy in a test this afternoon before they start their Cup campaign next weekend.
The Tonga coach Mana Otai says they'll try and emulate something close to a tense match but admits it's not the same as having a real game
"Preparation wise you know we've done it before I mean we've gone into Japan after they have played the whole you know Asian tri-nations or six-nations so it shows that we can do it but this is a different calibre of opposition so we are definitley going to go out there and try to do the best we can given the preparation that's in front of us."
Mana Otai.
The game is being played in Apia.
