Tonga to meet Kiwis and Kangaroos in
A World Cup rematch between the Kiwis and Tonga will go ahead in New Zealand next year, with the controversial Denver test all but dead and buried.
The New Zealand Rugby League and NRL confirmed yesterday that Mate Ma’a will play Australia at Mt Smart Stadium on October 20, while the Kiwis will host the Pacific Island side next June with the venue and date still to be confirmed.
The Kangaroos-Tonga test will be played a week after the Kiwis also host Australia at Mt Smart in the endof-year transtasman fixture on October 13.
Next year’s Kiwis-Tonga match will replace the Denver test between the Kiwis and England during the midseason stand-alone representative weekend.
The Denver test was booked in for another two years but NZRL CEO Greg Peters confirmed the Kiwis would not be returning to the US next year and said it was unlikely the 2020 fixture would go ahead.
The NZRL have received less than half of their agreed payment from Denver test promoter Jason Moore and are understood to be owed a sixfigure sum but face a battle through the US legal system to recoup the outstanding amount.
“We’re not going to Denver in 2019, I can assure you of that,” said Peters.
“We’ve tried to engage with him without success. We’ve reserved all of our rights under the contract and have contractual breach.
“It’s a US entity that we’re contracted with so we need to consider our options given [the] challenges.”
The NRL have agreed to fund the Tonga-Australia match and also have a commercial arrangement with the cash-strapped NZRL to support the Kiwis-Tonga fixture.
The NZRL are yet to decide where to stage next year’s Kiwis-Tonga game, but Auckland or Hamilton appear the most likely venues, given the proximity to South Auckland’s large Pacific communities and the success of last year’s remedies for