The Junior Kiwis side represents
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
in the sport of
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
. They are commonly known as the Junior Kiwis, after the native
bird of that name.
Since 2010, they are an under-20s side, with players selected from the
NRL
The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...
,
Intrust Super Cup
The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fou ...
,
Intrust Super Premiership,
Jersey Flegg Cup
The Jersey Flegg Cup is a junior rugby league competition played in New South Wales, contested among teams made up of players aged 21 or under. The competition is administered by the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL), and is named for Ea ...
and
Hastings Deering Colts
The Hastings Deering Colts is a junior rugby league competition based in Queensland, contested among teams made up of players aged 21 or under. The competition is administered by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL), and is contested by fourteen te ...
. They are administered by the
New Zealand Rugby League
The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood '' ...
.
History
Prior to 2010, the Junior Kiwis consisted of the best New Zealand players aged 18 years or younger and would represent the country against the likes of the
Australian Schoolboys, the
New South Wales Under 18 side and the
England Under 18 side, sometimes as curtain raisers to the senior
Kiwi games. Players such as
Adam Blair
Adam Ngawati Blair (born 20 March 1986) is a New Zealand rugby league coach and former professional rugby league footballer who played as a forward and in the National Rugby League (NRL), and the New Zealand and the New Zealand Māori inter ...
,
Thomas Leuluai
Thomas James Leuluai (born 22 June 1985) is a New Zealand professional rugby league coach who is the assistant coach of the Wigan Warriors in the Betfred Super League and a former professional rugby league footballer who played for New Zealand ...
,
Issac Luke
Issac Luke (born 29 May 1987) is a former New Zealand professional rugby league footballer
He previously played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, New Zealand Warriors, St. George Illawarra Dragons, and the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugb ...
,
Simon Mannering,
Jerome Ropati
Jerome Ropati (born 23 November 1984) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played his entire career for the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League (NRL). Ropati also represented New Zealand, and was a memb ...
,
Manu Vatuvei
Manu Mapuhola Mafi-Vatuvei (born 4 March 1986), also known by the nickname "The Beast", is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer and convicted methamphetamine importer who was both a Tonga and New Zealand international repres ...
and
Sonny Bill Williams
Sonny Bill Williams (born 3 August 1985) is a New Zealand heavyweight boxer, and a former professional rugby league and rugby union player and as of recently is working for Stan Sports. He is only the second person to represent New Zealand in ...
represented the Junior Kiwis early in their careers and went on to play at the senior level for New Zealand.
In 2010, with the advent of the
National Youth Competition, the Junior Kiwis was switched to an under 20s team and played in a two Test series against the
Junior Kangaroos
The Junior Kangaroos side represents Australia in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kangaroos, after the native marsupial of that name.
Since 2019, they are an under-23 side, with players selected from the NRL. The ...
.
From 2011 to 2018, the Junior Kiwis faced the Junior Kangaroos at the end of each season in a one-off Test match, usually as a curtain raiser to a senior level Australia-New Zealand Test match. In 2019, the side faced the
Australian Schooolboys. The side reverted to an under-19 side for the fixture.
2010 series
1st Test
Played as a curtain raiser to the New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
-England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
Four Nations match.
2nd Test
Played as a curtain raiser to the New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
-Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
Four Nations match.
2011 match
Played as a curtain raiser to the Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
-New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
pre- Four Nations tournament match.
Both coaches agreed to allow an 18th man be used during the match.
2012 match
Played as a curtain raiser to the Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
-New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
end of year Test match.
2013 match
2014 match
2015 match
Played as a curtain raiser to the Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
-Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consis ...
Melanesian Cup match and the Samoa
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...
-Tonga
Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...
Polynesian Cup
The Pacific Rugby League International is a rugby league test match that has been played between two Pacific Island nations during the National Rugby League's annual representative weekend since 2013. The fixture was held at Penrith Stadium for ...
match.
2016 match
Played as a curtain raiser to the Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
-Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consis ...
Melanesian Cup match and the Samoa
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...
-Tonga
Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...
Polynesian Cup
The Pacific Rugby League International is a rugby league test match that has been played between two Pacific Island nations during the National Rugby League's annual representative weekend since 2013. The fixture was held at Penrith Stadium for ...
match.
2017 match
Played as a curtain raiser to the 2017 Anzac Test
The 2017 Anzac Test was a rugby league test match played between Australia and New Zealand at Canberra Stadium. It was the 18th and last Anzac Test played between the two nations since the first was played under the Super League banner in 1997. ...
.
2018 match
Played as a curtain raiser to the Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
-New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
end of year Test match.
2019 match
Played as a curtain raiser to the 2019 Queensland Cup
The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fou ...
Grand Final.
Players
Captains
*
Martin Taupau (2010)
*
Carlos Tuimavave (2011–2012)
*
Jason Taumalolo (2012)
*
David Bhana (2013)
*
Manaia Cherrington(2014)
*
Zach Dockar-Clay
Zach Dockar-Clay (born 24 April 1995) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the North Sydney Bears in the NSW Cup.
He previously played for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the NRL. He also played fo ...
(2015)
*
Mafoa'aeata Hingano
Mafoa'aeata "Ata" Hingano (born 11 March 1997) is a Tonga international rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the York Knights in the Betfred Championship.
He has played for the New Zealand Warriors and the Canberra Raiders in the ...
(2016)
*
Jarome Luai (2017)
*
Isaiah Papali'i (2018)
*Jordan Riki (2019)
Coaches
*
David Kidwell
David Kidwell (born 23 April 1977) is a professional rugby coach who is the defence coach at Los Pumas, the national rugby union team of Argentina, and a former rugby league player. As a player, he represented New Zealand as a member of the ...
(2010–2011)
*
John Ackland (2012)
*Brent Gemmell (2013–2014)
*Kelvin Wright (2015–2016)
*
Nathan Cayless (2017)
*Ezra Howe (2018–)
See also
*
New Zealand national rugby league team
The New Zealand national rugby league team (Māori: Tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird o ...
*
New Zealand Māori rugby league team
New Zealand Māori rugby league team is a rugby league representative side made up of New Zealand Māori players. The side represents the New Zealand Māori Rugby league. Like its union counterpart, the rugby league team previously competed in ...
References
External links
Junior Kiwis Annual Results
{{Rugby League in New Zealand