payne was first capped for the tonga national team on 30 november 2002, during the match against papua new guinea's team in port moresby. he was also part of the 2003 rugby world cup tonga squad, playing four matches and scoring a try in the tournament, with his last test cap being during the pool stage against the canadian team in wollongong on 29 october 2003. at club level, payne played for manly rufc, sale sharks, racing metro 92 and blagnac scr.