Tonga women's rugby team

The match will be a curtain raiser for the Moana Pasifika versus Rebels match in the tenth round of the Super Rugby Pacific competition at the Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland.

This is the first ever Women’s XVs team consisting of only local Tongan women.

Tonga will face Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby on Saturday, with winner to play-off against Samoa in April for a berth in the final World Cup repechage tournament.

The team arrived in New Zealand earlier this week for a three-day training camp boosted by the inclusion of three Australian-based players and 11 from New Zealand.

Six players are expected to make their debut this weekend and assistant coach Sione Pulu said the camp has been important to help build team camaraderie.

Oceania Rugby said the decision was made after the team were forced into quarantine for 18 days – which would run through the tournament.

One of the players who arrived in Fiji was suspected of having measles, and tests were conducted on Sunday.

A senior official at the Fiji health ministry, Aalisha Sahukan, said the risk of infection was deemed too high for the Tongan team to participate.

The decision has forced a new schedule to be drawn up for the rest of the tournament.