SQUADS representing Tonga and Italy at the Rugby League World Cup have touched down in St Helens.
The national sides are training in St Helens during the tournament and will also play fixtures at Saints Totally Wicked Stadium.
After a morning training at Saints' Cowley base on Tuesday, Tonga – led by the former Saints coach Kristian Woolf – visited schools across the borough in small groups.
They then attended St Helens Town Hall where they received a civic welcome from the Mayor of St Helens, Cllr Sue Murphy and council leader, David Baines.
Current Saints players Will Hopoate and Konrad Hurrell were among the party, which also includes some of the biggest hitters in the NRL including Jason Taumalolo.
The town hall event, which also attended by representatives from St Helens community rugby league clubs , included performances from Haydock Male Voice Choir, who sang renditions of Abide With Me and Jerusalem.
Cllr Baines offered a warm welcome to the squad and said that the connections with Tonga and Saints meant that the borough would have the support of another team in red and white during the tournament.
Guests were also treated to a performance of the Tongan national anthem and displays from the Saints Angels cheerleaders.
Woolf, meanwhile, told those gathered in the assembly hall that it was a "privilege" to bring the Tongan squad to such a "lovely town hall".
The coach, whose trophy-laden spell at Saints has now ended, said he and his family had "fallen in love" with St Helens as a town and club and that they would miss the people here dearly.
However, his mind is now fixed on leading the Tongan squad – who he described as an "exceptional group of men" – through the tournament. They are expected to be one of the main contenders.
Tonga play their open their World Cup account against Papua New Guinea at St Helens' Totally Wicked Stadium on Tuesday, October 18.
They play Wales the following Monday, also at TWS.
Italy, meanwhile, have been training at Ruskin sportsground. They will play world champions Australia in St Helens on Saturday, October 29.
See Sport and 16-page pull-out inside this week's St Helens Star for more on the tournament.
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