NZ Maori test to be hosted

Craig Tiriana | 18th March 2010

RUGBY

Rotorua will feature in the New Zealand Maori Centenary Series which will be launched in Wellington tomorrow.

New Zealand Rugby Union officials will unveil a three-test programme for the Maori this winter, against travelling home unions Wales, Ireland and England.

Tomorrow's launch is to be held at Parliament and Minister of Maori Affairs Pita Sharples will attend.

Sources have confirmed Rotorua International Stadium will host the Irish versus New Zealand Maori encounter on Friday, June 18, a week after they play the All Blacks in New Plymouth and before the visitors depart New Zealand for tests against Australia.

The game is considered a great opportunity for match organisers and the Irish, who will be back in Rotorua for their 2011 Rugby World Cup match with a still-to-be-confirmed European qualifier on Sunday, September 25. That is one of three RWC 2011 matches Rotorua will host.

This season, the Welsh and Irish sides will be in New Zealand to play the All Blacks in June's Iveco Series prior to the Tri Nations. The All Blacks will play the Welsh in Dunedin and Hamilton (June 19 and 26) while the English team will take time out from their tour of Australia to cross the ditch and take part in Rau Tau - celebrating 100 years of Maori Rugby.

It's appropriate the three home nations' unions are involved in the celebrations as they were the first opponents of the New Zealand Native side which toured the United Kingdom and Australia in 1888/9. The New Zealand Maori side was officially recognised in 1910 while the Native team's first ever game was a 13-4 win against Ireland in Dublin.

Bay of Plenty has a strong attachment to Maori rugby with 97 players and two coaches having been involved since 1911, the latest being All Black and current Steamer Tanerau Latimer.

He made the team in in 2006/7 with then Bay teammates Anthony Tahana and Warren Smith.

Whakatane's Matt Te Pou was the last Bay New Zealand Maori coach. He enjoyed a fantastic 10-year career from 1995, including a thumping 62-14 win over the English in Rotorua and a 19-13 thriller over the touring British and Irish Lions at Hamilton in 2005.

Bay of Plenty Rugby chairman Bruce Cameron said two years ago that Rotorua should become the home of Maori rugby because of the union's attachment and the city's cultural standing and fine stadium. Rotorua first hosted a New Zealand Maori fixture in 1973 when the internally touring All Blacks beat them 18-8.

That is the only loss in seven games the Maori have recorded in the Sulphur City with test nations England and Argentina both dispatched by Te Pou's men in 1998 and 2001 respectively.

This year's New Zealand Maori side will be coached by former All Blacks and Maori representatives Jamie Joseph and Daryl Gibson. They take over from Donnie Stephenson. Joseph coached Wellington Lions in last year's Air New Zealand Cup while Gibson has been an assistant with the Crusaders since 2009.

 The 2010 New Zealand Maori side will be selected following the Super 14 competition in May.