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The chair of the New Zealand Rugby Board expects a high quality team will take the field for the Māori All Blacks team when they take on Fiji in July.
The Fijians will get a home advantage in Suva on July 13, and then come down to Rotorua for the second match on July 30.
Farah Palmer says it will be up to the coaches of the All Blacks and the Māori All Blacks to decide if any current All Blacks will be available.
Even if World Cup commitments rule that out, there is plenty of Māori talent to draw on from the Super Rugby franchises.
"I’m not concerned we’ll have a second rate team at all. I think it’ll be quite a strong team. A lot of our talent and our superstars in the Super Rugby competition are Māori so I think it’s going to be a great festival atmosphere, a great game between two nations that have got some strong tikanga and strong cultural backbone to what they do so I’m really excited about it," Dr Palmer says.
She expects Fiji may want to give its World Cup players a run in the series.
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