The All Blacks, New Zealand’s national rugby union side, and the Kangaroos, the national rugby league team of Australia, could play in a historic cross-code fixture at the end of the year.
The coach of the Kangaroos, Mal Meninga, said that talks to set up a game between the two sides in December were at a serious stage. The head of New Zealand rugby, Mark Robinson, confirmed that the teams were in talks and that if the plan had merit it would go ahead.
Both rugby league and rugby union have been severely disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, with lucrative tournaments having to be put on hold while the world deals with the crisis. Many sports which have been disrupted will have to think of innovative ways to create revenue, this potential cross-code match being one such example.
The match – if it goes ahead – will in all likelihood be played by 14 players on each side. Rugby union teams have 15 players a side, and league 13. There is also speculation that this could become a regular fixture.
Rugby league split from rugby union at the end of the 19th century. The two games are broadly similar, but with a different number of players and some significant differences in rules.