All Golds to play NZ Maori - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

All Golds to play NZ Maori

20/08/2008 11:06:50 AM Comments (0)

The All Golds will play a match against New Zealand Maori in October, marking the first time the team's jerseys will be seen in New Zealand since 1908.

New Zealand Rugby League chairman Ray Haffenden said on Wednesday an All Golds-NZ Maori match will be played at New Plymouth on October 12.

The game will be part of the Kiwis' build-up for the World Cup and will also acknowledge former skipper Ruben Wiki's contribution to the game.

Wiki, currently with the New Zealand Warriors, retired from internationals in 2006 and is in his final year of NRL action.

The fixture follows a commemorative match between the All Golds and the Northern Union in Warrington last October to mark the 100th anniversary of the landmark tour of the United Kingdom by the original All Golds in 1907-08.

After the tour finished with matches in Australia on the way home, the All Golds were involved in the first game of rugby league in New Zealand on June 13, 1908.

The game in New Plymouth will give the All Golds jersey its third outing in a year after it was also worn by the Kiwis in the Australian Rugby League's Centenary Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on May 9 this year.

"The All Golds hold a special place not just in our game's history but also in New Zealand sporting history as a whole," Haffenden said.

The match will also prepare NZ Maori ahead of their encounter with an Australian Indigenous team, which will be the curtain-raiser to the Australia-New Zealand World Cup clash at the Sydney Football Stadium on October 26.

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