One New Zealand Warriors utility Te Maire Martin will play his first Test in seven years when the Kiwis face Tonga in Sunday’s much-anticipated Pacific Championships clash at Eden Park.
The 30-year-old’s last international and the fourth of his career was the historic one-off encounter with England at Mile High Stadium in Denver in 2018, the first Test of Michael Maguire’s reign as Kiwi coach.
The Kiwis lost 18-36 at the home of the NFL’s Denver Broncos fielding a side which also included current Kiwis James Fisher-Harris, Joseph Tapine, Jamayne Isaako and Nelson Asofa-Solomona.
Martin was last in the Kiwis’ squad for the 2022 Test against the Tongans but wasn’t used.
Fellow Warriors Fisher-Harris, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and Erin Clark have again been named in a New Zealand side showing four changes from the one that beat Toa Samoa 24-18 on October 19.
Premiership-winning Brisbane Broncos forward Xavier Willison will debut coming onto the interchange for Melbourne Storm power forward Nelson Asofa-Solomona.
The 23-year-old Whatawhata Wolves junior, raised in the remote Waikato town of Tahāroa near Kawhia, previously represented the Cook Islands after making his NRL debut with the Broncos in 2021.
In 51 NRL appearances he has scored 10 tries, 21 of his outings coming this year when he averaged 111 metres and 23 tackles (95.6 per cent tackle efficiency) a game while making 39 tackle breaks.
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He’ll debut alongside fellow Tahāroa native and cousin Martin, one of two replacements for wing Ronaldo Mulitalo and hooker Jeremy Marshall-King, both ruled out after being injured in the Kiwis’ 24-18 win over Toa Samoa on October 19.
Newcastle’s Phoenix Crossland, used off the bench against Tonga, starts at hooker this week while Canberra’s Sebastian Kris is the fourth change, coming onto the wing for the injured Mulitalo.
Predominantly used in the centres by the Raiders, the 26-year-old Kris will be making his second Test appearance, reprising the winger’s role he filled in his try-scoring Test debut in the Kiwis’ 68-6 win over Jamaica in Hull at the 2022 Rugby League World Cup.
Earlier he scored a hat-trick in New Zealand’s 74-0 victory over the Leeds Rhinos in a warm-up match at Headingly.
Kris has come off an outstanding NRL season in which he scored nine tries in 24 games, averaged 122 metres and finished with 12 try assists, 16 line break assists and 61 tackle breaks.
The Kiwis are seeking to avenge last year’s controversial 24-25 loss to the Tongans at Go Media Stadium in last year’s Pacific Championships to earn a repeat meeting with the Samoans in the final in Sydney on November 9.
2025 Pacific Championships
New Zealand Kiwis v Tonga
6.05pm, Sunday, November 2, 2025
Eden Park, Auckland
1 Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad
2 Jamayne Isaako
3 Matthew Timoko
4 Casey McLean
5 Sebastian Kris
6 Dylan Brown
7 Kieran Foran
8 James Fisher-Harris (c)
9 Phoenix Crossland
10 Moses Leota
11 Briton Nikora
12 Isaiah Papali’i
13 Joseph Tapine
14 Te Maire Martin
15 Naufahu Whyte
16 Erin Clark
17 Xavier Willison
18 Nelson Asofa-Solomona
19 Scott Sorensen
20 Keano Kini
21 Zach Dockar-Clay
