Tonga's Pita Ahki says he believes his side will get fair treatment from the officials when they take on Ireland at the Rugby World Cup on Saturday.
Some controversial officiating in Fiji's narrow defeat to Wales on Friday led to calls that Tier 2 nations are refereed stricter than the top sides in the world, with those accusations being led by Daniel Leo, CEO of the Pacific Rugby Welfare group.
Toulouse centre Ahki previously questioned the consistency of how smaller nations are treated, following his team-mate George Moala being given a five-week ban (reduced from 10) following a red card in their World Cup warm-up game against Canada this summer.
The former Connacht centre has rowed back on those comments ahead of their World Cup opener against Ireland in Nantes on Saturday, and says he believes they will be treated fairly by referee Wayne Barnes.
"From my point of view we can control what we can control," he told RTÉ Sport.
"The officials are trying to do their best, they've got to make quick decisions on the field, sometimes they'll get it wrong, sometimes they’ll get it right, some calls will go your way and sometimes it won’t.
"You just have to live with it, if it doesn’t go away, the pain will go away over time. The officials are doing what they can, so I can see both sides."
The 30-year-old is quite familiar with the players he will line up opposite on Saturday. In five seasons at Toulouse, he's come up against all four Irish provinces a combined 13 times, winning nine of those games and scoring four tries, the most recent in his side's Champions Cup semi-final defeat to Leinster in May.
In a parallel world, the centre could be Bundee Aki's midfield partner at Connacht, having played eight games for the province in the 2017/18 season.
"At the beginning of 2017 I was playing for Waikato in Hamilton and obviously had no contract with the NZRU, so Connacht was looking for a medical joker at the time and Kieran Keane was the coach, he hit up my agent.
"I had nothing on the table back home so I came to Connacht."
"Galway was a nice place, I don't know about the weather though!
"We loved our time, we wanted to stay longer because I was sick of all the moving from club to club, but obviously things didn't work out there and I ended up in Toulouse."
Connacht have a strong pedigree for producing shrewd signings, and although Ahki didn't hit great heights during his time at the Sportsground, he was an instant hit at Toulouse.
In five seasons at Stade Ernest Wallon he's played 107 times, and has consistently been the first choice 12 in a side that has won three Top14 titles and a Champions Cup. He also came back to haunt Connacht in the 2019/20 season, scoring a try in each of Toulouse's pool stage wins against the province.
He's just one of many players in the Tonga squad who are familiar with the Irish players. Malakai Fekitoa, who is likely to be his centre partner on Saturday, spent last season at Munster where he impressed in the second half of the season to help win a URC title. Second row Leva Fifita departed Connacht this summer after a two-year stint, while Charles Piutau is still remembered fondly for his two seasons at Ulster.
In addition there are plenty of names in the Ikale Tahi squad that will be familiar to URC fans. Dynamic forwards Vaea Fifita and Sam Lousi are integral to the Scarlets, while number 8 Sione Vailanu tormented Munster when Glasgow were 38-26 winners at Thomond Park in March.
And while he says there is plenty of familiarity among his team-mates with Ireland, that won't necessarily make their teak easier.
"Some world class players in the Irish team but we don't know what team they'll put out. Whatever team they put out, we know it’ll be world class.
"There’s been a lot of chat around what they can and can’t do, but they’re number one for a reason.
"If you watch the game at the weekend, they're just relentless, they just keep playing and keep playing. Even the last try they scored, they could have kicked it out. They were down in their own 22 and decided to keep playing and scored with 83 minutes gone.
"It just shows what a class side they are and how fit they are and how hard they’ve worked in the off-season."
Ahki is one of several members of this Tongan squad who have been able to avail of the 2021 change in eligibility rules by World Rugby.
Born in New Zealand, his international career had been locked to his native country after a stint in the Sevens programme, but the 2021 ruling opened up the possibility of representing both Tonga and Samoa, the birthplaces of his mother and father respectively.
"My phone was blowing up at the time from both sides of the party; from Samoa and Tonga, all of my friends and family were calling phone and sending me massages."
He's been a late addition to the Tonga squad, making his unofficial debut against Australia A in an uncapped game in July before earning his first cap against Japan in the Pacific Nations Cup later that month.
"To be honest I didn't think I would [get the call]. I was comfortable where I was, playing with Toulouse, and I was happy with my family.
"There’s a lot of family time where I am at the moment, and playing some good footy, but when the call came I just had a little think about it with my family, and thought it was time to try and play international rugby," he added.
The Tongans have arguably benefitted from the eligibility ruling more than any other nation at the tournament.
In addition to bringing in Ahki and ex-Australia international Adam Coleman, Toutai Kefu's side have been able to recruit five former All Blacks in Fekitoa, Moala, Piutau, Vaea Fifita and Augustine Pulu.
And while Ahki admits there is plenty of hype around the exciting talent they have at their disposal, they know they'll still be big underdogs in a pool with Ireland, South Africa and Scotland.
"We like to keep our heads as low as we can to the ground but we understand there's a lot of hype around it, but we’re playing the number one in the world on Saturday.
"There's a lot of hype around our team, saying we’re a good team on paper, but that’s all it is.
"We’ve just got to try put all the pieces of the puzzle together and pull out a big performance and that's what we as a team are trying to do.
"This Saturday we’ll try put out a performance that’ll make our families happy, our country, our little nation of Tonga," he added.
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