New Zealand national rugby league team

New Zealand

Team information
Nickname	Kiwis
Governing body	NZRL
Region	Asia-Pacific
Head coach	Stacey Jones
Captain	James Fisher-Harris
Most caps	Ruben Wiki (55)
Top try-scorer	Manu Vatuvei (22)[1]
Top point-scorer	Shaun Johnson (219)
IRL ranking	2nd
Uniforms
First colours Second colours
Team results
First international
Wales 9–8 New Zealand  (Aberdare, Wales; 1 January 1908)
Biggest win
Tonga 0–74 New Zealand  (Auckland, New Zealand; 1999) Leeds Rhinos 0–74 New Zealand  (Leeds, England; 8 October 2022)  New Zealand 84–10 Cook Islands  (Reading, England; 2000)
Biggest defeat
New Zealand 0–58 Australia  (Wellington, New Zealand; 14 October 2007)
World Cup
Appearances	16 (first time in 1954)
Best result	Champions (2008)

The New Zealand national rugby league team (Māori: tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. The team's colours are black and white, with the dominant colour being black, and the players perform a haka before every match they play as a challenge to their opponents. The New Zealand Kiwis are currently second in the IRL World Rankings. Since the 1980s, most New Zealand representatives have been based overseas, in the professional National Rugby League and Super League competitions. Before that, players were selected entirely from clubs in domestic New Zealand leagues.

A New Zealand side first played in a 1907 professional rugby tour which pre-dated the birth of rugby league football in the Southern Hemisphere, making it the second oldest national side after England. Since then the Kiwis have regularly competed in international competition, touring Europe and Australia throughout the 20th century. New Zealand have competed in every Rugby League World Cup since the first in 1954, reaching three consecutive tournament finals between 2000 and 2013. In 2008, New Zealand won the World Cup for the first time. They also contest the Baskerville Shield against England.