Five ARL teams take to NZ

An abundance of Australian Rugby League representative teams travel abroad this month in what shapes as an epic trans-Tasman battle culminating in the October 14 Test match between the Kangaroos and New Zealandat Westpac Stadium, Wellington.

The NSW Country Under-16s, the ARL Indigenous Under-18s, the Australian Schoolboys, the Junior Kangaroos and Kangaroos will have all departed our shores at the week’s end, with the Schoolboys already having won two matches on their tour of New Zealand.

Amongst plenty of trans-Tasman action there are also matches being played in Tonga and Fiji(Junior Kangaroos), while the ARL/AIS High Performance Unit is set to travel toFrance and England next month for a four match tour.

“One of the things everyone thinks is that Rugby League is only played on the eastern seaboard of Australia and in the north of England, but where we are playing in the next month is an indication of the game’s progress internationally,” ARL Chief Executive Geoff Carr said today.

“The game is strengthening each year in many countries around the world and the breadth of the ARL’s tours this year indicates we have a very exciting World Cup ahead of us in 2008.”

Details of the touring Australian Rugby League sides are as follows:

TEAM	MATCH	DATE	LOCATION
NSW Country Under-16s	v Taranaki, New Plymouth	Saturday, 6 October, 2007	New Plymouth, New Zealand
ARL Indigenous Under-18s	v New Zealand Maori Under-18s	Saturday, 6 October, 2007	Rotorua, New Zealand
	v Taranaki, New Plymouth	Tuesday, 9 October, 2007	New Plymouth, New Zealand
	v New Zealand Maori Under-18s	Sunday, 14 October, 2007	Wesptac Stadium, Wellington NZ
Australian Schoolboys	def AucklandAcademy26-10	Wednesday, 26 September, 2007	Auckland, New Zealand
	def New Zealand Under-18s 40-20	Saturday, 29 September, 2007	Auckland, New Zealand
	v New Zealand Under-18s	Saturday, 5 October, 2007	Rotorua, New Zealand
Junior Kangaroos	v Fiji	Friday 5 October, 2007	Fiji National Stadium, Suva, Fiji
	v Tonga	Wednesday 10 October, 2007	Teufaiva Stadium, Tonga
	v Junior Kiwis	Sunday 14 October, 2007	Westpac Stadium, Wellington NZ
Kangaroos	v New Zealand Kiwis	Sunday, 14 October, 2007	Westpac Stadium, Wellington NZ

FUTURE TOUR
ARL/AIS tour of France, England	Matches against French Under-17 and Under-19 sides, English Under-17 Academy	November 2007	France, England