Rugby League: Kiwis set for bumper schedule including home game against Mate Ma'a Tonga

Kiwis fans will get more chances to see live matches in New Zealand in 2019. Photo / Getty Images

A bumper international league schedule for the Kiwis is set to be confirmed later this week, with New Zealand to play tests against at least four nations this year.

The Oceania Cup – which was first mooted back in October – has also been rubber stamped which will allow for more matches for the Island nations.

In a week where rugby has been criticised for its proposed World League idea, which appears to sideline the likes of Tonga and Samoa in favour of the United States and Japan, league is trying to ensure that the recent growth in the Pacific region continues.

The announcement this week will confirm a British League Lions tour of New Zealand, the first time the composite Britain league team has toured this country since 1996 (though the vast majority of the team will still be English).

It's understood the Lions will play two tests against the Kiwis, as well as clashes with Tonga, Fiji and Samoa. The British side will also stop in Papua New Guinea on their way home.

The schedule means that Tonga, Samoa, Papua New Guinea and Fiji will be guaranteed at least two tests each in 2019, a vital boost for each of those countries especially with the recent progress of Tonga and Papua New Guinea.

The Kiwis will play at least three times on home soil. Putting aside the 2017 World Cup, it will be the first time since 2014 that has been sighted more than once in a single year in this country.

They'll face Tonga on June 22 in either Auckland or Hamilton, then Australia in Wollongong in October before the two tests with the Lions in November.

This year could represent the beginning of a brave new dawn for international league, which has struggled to cement a regular calendar due to the pre-eminence of the club game.

The impetus has largely come from the success of Tonga at the last World Cup, where they became the story of the tournament as they progressed to the semi finals, playing in front of sold out stadiums on the way.

And their potential was shown again in the one-off test against the Kangaroos at Mt Smart last year, where the sell out crowd engendered a magnificent occasion.

In 2020 the Kiwis will face Australia in New Zealand, as well as matches against at least two Pacific sides while the Kangaroos will tour Great Britain and France at the end of that year.

The following year the World Cup will be held in the northern hemisphere.