It has been announced that the triple header RL international bonanza at Eden Park, featuring Aussie v Tonga, Samoa v Fiji and GB v Kiwis is to be played on November 2nd......
...anyone care to guess what other sport might be having its [url=https://hospitality.rugbyworldcup.com/en/schedule/World Cup Final that day[/url, which in all probability will feature a Team from New Zealand?

I am in awe at the ineptness of the people that run RL.

What's the timing like for the games against the final? It's in Japan right?

I'm struggling with how late they've left it to announce a GB tour.

Its 9am RU Final UK time/6pm Yokohama time so will probably be on after the RL games as Auckland time will be 10pm when it kicks off.

If they put a big screen up and show the Union game as well ,the place will be packed


They really do have no idea at all and with this one, it's like someone has searched for the worst day in the sporting calendar to stage the event.
Maybe there is a Union mischief maker working in the top echelons of Rugby League ??

Two points, one I love the way people on here assume they know the reasons why this day was picked, for all they know there may be many sound reasons for doing so. This assumption especially by the OP who has a habit of talking rubbish that the RFL is totally idiotic is getting a bit tiresome.

Secondly and far more importantly the OP shows no understanding for the game in NZ but then he has little understanding of the UK game so no surprise.

RL and RU in NZ DO NOT share a fan base. RU is generally followed by the white population of NZ especially the farming communities of which there are many, not a problem just a fact. RL is followed mainly by working class communities in and around Aukland, these communities are largely made up of Māori people and Pacific Islands people.

This is mirrored in the team make up of the two games, nearly the entire RL team is made up of people of Māori heritage or Pacific Islanders, with very few people of Anglo Saxon heritage and this has always been the case though far more so these days. The All Blacks (slightly ironic given the name) have a much larger 'white' element, whilst many of its non white players started in League. I don't think its a race thing as such just the way its panned out through history and of course there are many Māori's etc who do play and watch Union.

What I do know is that either watch one or the other, so no League fan will ever be put off attending due to the All Blacks playing - whilst no Union fans will be lost because they wouldn't be attending anyway.

Truth is that with a line up of games like that if the RL fans of NZ don't turn out then the fault lays there imo.

You do realise that;

1 The Op is a marketing professional; and
2 Lives in New Zealand

Don't you!

It doesn't matter... The Tongan fans alone WILL fill Eden Park!

Too long. Didn’t read

I did and makes sense

He’s from Hull. What he meant was “too long can’t read”

Utter Tripe.
Can I ask, how long you lived here in New Zealand?

I've been here now nearly a decade, sponsor my local RL side and have plenty of friends who both watch and play both games....so far there's 8 buses from the local Union club booked to take fans into the cake tin later this year when the Warriors are in town......New Zealanders are fans of sport.....all sport.

The prejudices of League v Union are nowhere near as active here in NZ, although on the south Island, Union is more of a way of life, whilst in South Auckland, League is stronger.......but the same Tongan fans that will probably fill Eden Park were at the RWC 11 games as well......they love Tonga, not just League. There are more Tongans in Auckland than in Tonga. If these rabid Tongan fanatics were Leaguies, why is Mt Smart (across the road from the largest tongan population in the world) not regularly sold out?

The rest of your rambling attack on my knowledge carries little weight either. The RFL are inept in many things that they do...like shedding 20k fans between the 2015 and 2018 visits of the Kiwis.

As I say, Eden park will probably be full of Tongans on the day, but what does that say about the draw of either GB or the Kiwis? The scheduling of this event is strange at best........ I have no doubt you'll come back with more opinion and very little fact, but I can assure you there are plenty of fans who would have wanted to attend this event if it didn't clash with the RWC final and the majority of Kiwis are sports fans first and foremost.

I look forward to you telling us all how long you lived here by the way.......