Tonga captain Nili Latu paid tribute to his troops following their 36-20 loss to England in Paris on Friday, and reiterated his demands for Super 14 recognition.
Tonga, with wins over Samoa and the United States under their belts, now head home after the most successful World Cup in their history.
They also fell within a score of the all-conquering Springboks, and Latu believes that his side has made giant strides in the last four years.
"The last time we played England in the World Cup they beat us 101-10 - we are going to take a lot of positives from this tournament," said the flank.
"We struggled to get here, to get some pre-season under our belts. But everyone was professional; we supported our coaching staff and we are going to go home really happy.
"But we are losing a lot of our players overseas, and we need all the support we can get. We hardly had any budget to get here - there is no money in Tongan rugby.
"We would love to have a team in the Super 14, but it seems it is not going our way. We need help in the islands.
"The International Rugby Board are starting to put money in for academies as such, but we need all the help we can get. We have got to catch up.
"This tournament was about having fun, but we want to go forward from here."
Tonga, with wins over Samoa and the United States under their belts, now head home after the most successful World Cup in their history.
They also fell within a score of the all-conquering Springboks, and Latu believes that his side has made giant strides in the last four years.
"The last time we played England in the World Cup they beat us 101-10 - we are going to take a lot of positives from this tournament," said the flank.
"We struggled to get here, to get some pre-season under our belts. But everyone was professional; we supported our coaching staff and we are going to go home really happy.
"But we are losing a lot of our players overseas, and we need all the support we can get. We hardly had any budget to get here - there is no money in Tongan rugby.
"We would love to have a team in the Super 14, but it seems it is not going our way. We need help in the islands.
"The International Rugby Board are starting to put money in for academies as such, but we need all the help we can get. We have got to catch up.
"This tournament was about having fun, but we want to go forward from here."
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