Royal Tongan mission for Welsh duo

Veteran Welsh internationals Colin Charvis and Mark Taylor are heading to Tonga to play in a special coronation game for the South Pacific nation's new king.

Veteran Welsh internationals Colin Charvis and Mark Taylor are heading to Tonga to play in a special coronation game for the South Pacific nation's new king.

The duo, who represented both Swansea and Wales together, will line up in a star-studded Coronation World XV against a Tongan XV on Thursday 31 July.

Other notable names in the Coronation World XV include Ben Gollings, the all-time leading points scorer in IRB World Sevens, as well as Scotland's Stuart Grimes, Craig Joiner and Brendan Laney.

Meanwhile the Tongan XV will include Sililo Martens of the Scarlets, as well as two former British-based players in the shape of Inoke Afeaki and Josh Taumalolo.

“I'm thrilled by this chance to go to play in Tonga,” Charvis told BBC Sport

“It gives me the chance to gauge where I am physically ahead of the season.”

The match will be played on the eve of King George V's coronation.