Rugby Union - by Craig Hill

Tonga's No.8 Finau Maka, whose wild hairstyle resembles the Jackson Five at their peak, was asked if he was going to have a haircut before the England game.
"No. If I cut my hair, I lose my power," Maka said.

The International Rugby Board has banned a plan by tournament fairytale team Tonga to dye their players' hair green for tomorrow morning's do-or-die World Cup clash with England.

Tonga grabbed massive headlines yesterday when a London newspaper revealed the team had dyed their hair in a show of support for an Irish bookmaking company.

But IRB officials ordered the players to re-dye their hair, saying they had broken tournament rules....and Officials claim the move would contravene tournament regulations on sponsorship.
The Islanders had planned the eye-catching stunt as a gesture of thanks to the bookmaker for its financial support of the team.

...IRB officials played party-poopers when, before they left their southern France base just out of Montpellier to head to Paris, the Tongans were told that dying their hair was not allowed under the rules of the tournament.

Irish bookmakers Paddy Power has been assisting the cash-strapped Tongan squad since its arrival, beginning with an individual deal to sponsor veteran back Epi Taione.

Taione changed his name by deed poll to Paddy Power for the duration of the tournament but the IRB fun police quashed that, listing him as Epi Taione in all official match programmes.

The match has already captured the public's attention in France, and all around the world, because it's the ultimate battle of rugby's Haves and Have-Nots.

The current world champions England have the largest resources, both financially and in playing numbers, on the planet.

Their players are paid huge salaries, some approaching the $1 million-mark per annum just to lace up their boots, and it's said that they're all pocketing $30,000 per man just to turn up in France.

That figure will grow dramatically the closer they get to defending their title over coming weeks.

Tonga, with a population of just 100,000 people, is a longtime second-class citizen at the IRB table.

Some squad members had to pay their own way to France because there wasn't enough money in the coffers to cover their airfares.

The players are on weekly salaries of just $60 per man while they're at the World Cup and their accommodation in Clapaci's, just out of Montpellier, was so basic it's said England wouldn't even let their media stay there.