Matches in Cornwall Park (May 26 and June 1) and Mt Smart Stadium (May 29)
Tony Tietie
Auckland, March 3, 2024
The mighty India Jungle Cats Rugby League team will be playing on New Zealand soil for the first time in their short history.
Formed in 2019, the sole aim of the team has been to provide a representative pathway and put India onto the Rugby League map.
The players come from across the world with the last match (28-18 win against Thailand Naga 13) featuring six New Zealand-based players, 13 Australia-based players and one player from the USA to represent his Indian heritage.
They have played four matches in Australia against other quality Emerging Nations teams with a record of three wins and one loss. Whilst Rugby League does not feature in India, this team is made up of legitimate Indian players who Rugby League in their respective homelands.
(Photo Supplied)
May Fixtures in Auckland
In May 2024, they will play two International fixtures as a part of a Tri-Series alongside New Zealand-based squads representing Tokelau and Cook Islands Rugby League.
The Tournament will occur during the week leading into the King’s Birthday public holiday and will be played in Auckland as follows: Game 1: Tokelau vs Cook Islands (Sunday, 26 May at Cornwall Park); Game 2: India vs Tokelau (Wednesday 29 May at Mt Smart Stadium #2); Game 3: Cook Islands vs India (Saturday, 1 June at Cornwall Park).
For the India team, all tours so far have been personally funded by players whilst the governing body is still working towards the establishment.
We will need a significant financial support package to assist with running the week-long camp for the squad of 22 players and five coaching staff selected as well as staging the Tokelau at the home of the Warriors, Mt Smart Stadium.
This venue provides a great opportunity to showcase our Indian heritage players and sponsors and our great culture through guaranteed televised coverage on Sky Sports platforms. We believe this will be a worthwhile investment for the Indian community by opening up a whole new established sports market to our growing population in New Zealand and hopefully supporting the Indian Rugby League to play in the World Cup Tournament in the future.
(Photo Supplied)
Opportunity for Indian players
As published earlier, the purpose of establishing Jungle Cats was to create an international representative opportunity for Indian players.
Tietie said that while Covid-19 has hampered the Team’s efforts to be physically in India, an office and a board have been established to begin the process.
“In terms of on-field performance, however, two historic and IRL-sanctioned wins against world-ranked South American countries in 2019 have created a real interest amongst the other developing nations with many requests for matches once borders open. The New Zealand-based players played a historic match against an Asian invitational team in October 2021, featuring former and up-and-coming NRL talent in the player roster,” he said.
Tietie said that the Team is seeking sponsorship to finance the forthcoming match and other events planned.
For further details, please contact Tony Tietie on 027-4497900;
Email: coach@indianjunglecats.com; Website: www.indianjunglecats.com
