Tonga fans have shown remarkable support for their team to provide an atmosphere that Australian captain Boyd Cordner said he "had never seen before".
In the first ever clash between Australia and Tonga, played at Auckland's Mt Smart Stadium, a full house of Tongan supporters were in full voice throughout the match.
They sang and cheered regularly, and in an ultimate show of respect for their opposition, even sang along with the Australian national anthem.
Led by Andrew Fifita, Tonga performed a stirring rendition of Sipi Tau just prior to kick-off, which well and truly got the crowd out of their seats.
MORE: Australia v Tonga: Sipi Tau rocks Mt Smart Stadium | Australia v Tonga: Valentine Holmes awarded controversial eight-point try
Incredibly, Konrad Hurrell kitted up and participated in the performance, even though he didn't play.
#RoosTonga was electric. Amazing atmosphere. pic.twitter.com/g15QnSdAAi
— Samuel 👋🏽 (@SamuelLewis00) October 20, 2018
@tongaNRL #RoosTonga @NRL I'm Australian, but Tonga, thank you for a beautiful experience. Your captains tears of pride at the anthem, singing Australia's anthem, you choir of heavenly voices, your teams effort, all heart!! Well done, you are my second team now for life! 🙏
— Mr Ozzman (@xyozzman) October 20, 2018
After the game, Cordner told Fox League he was amazed by the passion shown by the crowd.
"Wow, what a crowd!" Cordner said.
"We wanted this game just as much as Tonga.
"It's all about growing the game and look at this.
"You guys are unbelievable, keep getting behind your team.
"It's an experience none of us have ever seen before.
"It's been the case all week with the Tongan supporters and their country, they're all about respect and they're very humble and we really respect that as a country, so thank you very much."
Watch the crowd in action below:
When the crowd sings Himi 114 & Solomone Kata scores 🙏🏽🇹🇴#MMT pic.twitter.com/qin6iZUzAx
— The Coconet (@TheCoconetTV) October 20, 2018
As for the game itself, two early tries to Manly pair Daly Cherry-Evans and Tom Trbojevic took some of the wind out of the Tongan sails but Tevita Pangai Junior responded shortly after to get Tonga on the board.
It then threatened to get ugly mid-way through the first half with tries to Valentine Holmes and another for Tom Trbojevic extending Mal Meninga's side's lead to three converted tries.
Daniel Tupou then got on the end of a slick backline move to keep his team in it.
The Kangaroos got a boost going into the half-time break with Holmes scoring again and being given the chance at an eight-point try after Pangai Jr collected him with a boot in the process.
That gave Australia a 30-10 lead at half-time.
Tonga scored first in the second half through Solomone Kata at the 49th minute, finding space out wide after stepping past Luke Keary and Boyd Cordner.
But James Tedesco, who was rightly named man of the match, put the result beyond doubt at the 63rd minute, strolling over in the corner as Australia secured a 34-16 victory.