The long-rumoured clash between the Kiwis and Tonga has been confirmed by New Zealand Rugby League [NZRL] with the two sides set to face off in June.

The NZRL announced on Thursday the Kiwis and Kiwi Ferns will play a doubleheader against Tonga at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday June 25 after more than two years without Test level rugby league.

“What a great feeling to finally have our Ferns and Kiwis back on the park, and even better at home,” NZRL CEO Greg Peters said.

“To celebrate Matariki weekend with an international Test double header that unites our fans and communities in celebration is special.”

The two male sides last played each other in 2019 prior to the Covid-19 pandemic with the Kiwis coming out on top 34-14 but it has been 14 years since the Kiwi Ferns last played Hakula Tonga.

Tonga head coach Kristian Woolf said he was delighted to see international rugby league returning.

“We are excited about the opportunity to represent the proud nation of Tonga for the first time since the successful campaign against Australia and Great Britain back in 2019,” Woolf said.

“This opportunity has been a long time coming, so we can’t wait to face the Kiwis again. This will be an important match for us as we look to reunite the team and also give some of our young players a chance to represent their country ahead of the World Cup.”

Organisers hope the women’s Test match will achieve a world record in crowd attendance for a women’s rugby league game, which currently sits at 18,000.

The event will be matched by games in Australia as well with Samoa playing the Cook Islands and Papua New Guinea facing Fiji in Campbelltown.

“We have been working with the NRL for some time now to produce an international weekend on both sides of the Tasman during the Origin window,” Peters said.

New Zealand Rugby League has confirmed the Kiwis will play Tonga at Mt Smart Stadium on June 25.

The Kiwis Ferns will also play against Tonga in the first fixture of a double header that sees a return to international footy in New Zealand for the first time in almost three years.

The tests will be played during the State of Origin stand-alone weekend, with Queensland playing New South Wales in Perth the following day. Having the Kiwis and Kiwi Ferns play at Mt Smart Stadium is a controversial move as it will happen one week before the Warriors’ emotional homecoming game against Wests Tigers on July 3 at the same venue.

The Warriors also haven’t played in New Zealand since 2019 and the club are promising that it will be a huge occasion when the team take to the field at Mt Smart Stadium again.

However, some gloss could be taken off that homecoming, by the Kiwis and Kiwi Ferns getting in first at Mt Smart Stadium, rather than at a different venue.

For the Kiwis and Kiwi Ferns will be important tests, with the World Cup happening in England later this year and it will give their respective coaches, Michael Maguire and Ricky Henry an opportunity to work with a bunch of players who haven’t been all together in a long time.

NZRL CEO Greg Peters says they only recently became confident that tests could be played in New Zealand this year.

“It only became possible to play this in New Zealand in the last month or six weeks with the relaxation of the border restrictions, but more importantly, the lifting of all crowd restrictions, to enable us to fill Mt Smart,” Peters said.

“It’s the return of international football and we’re billing it as that after a two-year hiatus.

“It’s also the return of a rivalry in international rugby league that has captured the hearts and minds of sports fans.

“For the first time, we’re also the Kiwis and Kiwi Ferns both against Tonga, so it should be massive occasions for both teams.”

As for playing at Mt Smart Stadium before the Warriors, Peters said they didn’t have any choice on when the tests could be played and they wanted to have them at the spiritual home of league in New Zealand.

“The timing is not of our making, it’s a one-week availability, it’s the stand alone State of Origin weekend which allows international football,” he said.