Four Nations features Eden Park double-header

Last updated 19:52 04/02/2010

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This year's Four Nations rugby league tournament will feature a double header at Eden Park, with all four teams in action on the same day at the Auckland ground.

In the last round of the round robin phase on November 6, England will face Papua New Guinea as a curtainraiser to the first trans-Tasman test on New Zealand soil in three years.

Eden Park, which is being redeveloped for the 2011 rugby World Cup, last hosted a major league match in 1988, when the Kangaroos beat the Kiwis in front of 47,363 fans to win the World Cup final.

In the Four Nations schedule released today, four of the tournament's seven matches will be in New Zealand, while the final will be at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium on November 13.

New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) chief executive Jim Doyle said getting the lion's share of the fixtures was a huge boost for New Zealand sport, the NZRL and the world champion Kiwis.

He said the double header could become the biggest rugby league event staged in New Zealand.

"It will be a tremendous moment for the game to have rugby league's major powers all playing at the same ground on the same day," he said.

"It's also a huge honour for our game that we'll actually be giving the new-look Eden Park one of its first major attractions."

The Kiwis and England will meet in the tournament opener in Wellington on October 23.

Defending champions Australia open their campaign against Papua New Guinea in Sydney the following day.

The other New Zealand city to host a match will be Rotorua, where New Zealand will play papua New Guinea on October 30.

FOUR NATIONS SCHEDULE

October 23: New Zealand v England, Westpac Stadium, Wellington.
October 24: Australia v Papua New Guinea, Parramatta Stadium, Sydney.
October 30: New Zealand v Papua New Guinea, International Stadium, Rotorua.
October 31: Australia v England, Melbourne (ground to be confirmed).
November 6: England v Papua New Guinea and New Zealand v Australia, Eden Park, Auckland.
November 13: final at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane.

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- NZPA