The 63-53 victory inside a noisy Hydro on Friday will help Netball gain another foothold in the Pacific nation where most of the 100,000 people are fixated by an altogether different team sport.  

“Tonga have a proud history in rugby and we’re very proud of our boys, but our young girls didn’t have anyone to look up to,” the team's coach, Jaqua Pori Makea Simpson, a New Zealander, said.

“In the past four years, since the tables started to turn for us on the world stage, everything has changed. Participation rates in Tonga have gone through the roof.

"So many more young girls are playing Netball - and not just Netball, but sport (generally).”

Against this backdrop, Simpson knew Friday’s final classification match had consequences reaching far beyond Tonga's final classification in the competition.

The experienced coach sent her best seven players on to the court and kept them there, for the full 60 minutes.

“If we would have lost today, we would have dropped out of the top 10 (in the world rankings), so we had a lot riding on it,” she said.

“For us, if you’re not going to win a Commonwealth medal, it’s about the other values in these types of tournaments.

"It’s a chance for us to start climbing the ladder. To get wins against teams that are above us, and today was one of those days.”

Simpson’s job was made easier on Friday – and all week at The Hydro – by the presence in the ‘Tala’ ranks of Uneeq Palavi (pictured, GS), who has netted 219 of the 282 goals scored by Tonga across the tournament.

“I feel like this is a gold medal for us,” Palavi, who scored 49 goals against Wales, said.

“We were hungry for that win - to do it for our little nation.”

Community impact

With a place in the world’s top 10 secure, there can be no doubt Tongan netball is moving in the right direction.

In September, the Pacific islands nation will host the Oceania qualifiers for the first time, at a purpose-built facility opened two years ago in the country's capital Nuku'alofa.

“It’s like anything right, if you can see it you can dream it, and we know that we are making an impact on our community (because) we see it when we go back there,” Simpson said.

“The goal is to qualify for the World Cup - being a one-hit wonder is not enough for us.”

In the final classification match on Friday, South Africa rebounded from Thursday night’s late loss to England to beat Uganda and seal fifth place.

The She-Cranes held a four-point lead after the first quarter before the Proteas found their rhythm, running out 62-54 winners.

“I'm very proud of the team - I think we played clinical netball,” South Africa captain Khanyisa Chawane said.

“We played the netball that we know we can play, and the lessons we have learned will just make us better.

“Yes, our goal was to medal and we didn't get it, but I don't think we dropped our standard.

"Just allowing ourselves to feel that disappointment (and) to really sit in that emotion enabled us to be able to have those conversations to get ourselves out of it.

“We fought each and every game. We played our very best and we can walk out of here and say we did all that we could.”