Six Return For Kiwis’ Pacific Championships Opener

Six players from the New Zealand Kiwis’ 2023 title-winning side return for the opening match of the Pacific Championships against Toa Sāmoa at Go Media Stadium on Sunday (6.05pm kick-off).

Head coach Stacey Jones has today recalled the experienced Ronaldo Mulitalo, Dylan Brown, Kieran Foran, Moses Leota, Briton Nikora and Nelson Asofa-Solomona to kickstart the eagerly-awaited third edition of the Pacific series.

All six were key contributors in the Kiwis’ record 30-0 win over the Kangaroos in the 2023 final in Hamilton but were unavailable for last year’s campaign.

Cronulla Sutherland’s Mulitalo comes back on the left wing with Newcastle-bound Brown and retiring 35-year-old Gold Coast veteran Foran paired in the halves; Foran in a more familiar role after starting at hooker in the 2023 final.

Penrith prop Leota is reunited in the front row with his long-time former clubmate and Kiwi captain James Fisher-Harris while Nikora (Sharks) returns in the second row with Melbourne’s Asofa-Solomona on the interchange.

Making a Test comeback is hooker Jeremy Marshall-King, three years after making his only international appearances against Lebanon and Jamaica at the 2022 Rugby League World Cup.

The remaining 10 players included in the starting lineup and on the interchange were all used the Kiwis’ last match when they beat Papua New Guinea 54-12 in Sydney last November.

One New Zealand Warriors fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad was in the halves on that occasion but is back in the #1 jersey on Sunday while Penrith’s Casey McLean comes into the centres after bagging four tries on the wing in his Test debut against the Kumuls.

Sunday’s encounter will be the sixth between the two nations with the Kiwis winning the previous five, the last a 50-0 victory in their opening game of the 2023 tournament at Eden Park.

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