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Auckland, New Zealand, October 28, 2025 – Four changes including a Test debut for Brisbane Broncos forward Xavier Willison have been made for the New Zealand Kiwis’ Pacific Championships clash against Tonga at Eden Park on Sunday (6.05pm kickoff). The 23-year-old NRL premiership-winning Willison replaces Melbourne Storm power forward Nelson Asofa-Solomona on the interchange. Raised in the remote Waikato town of Tahāroa near Kawhia, the Whatawhata Wolves junior 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 meters and 23 tackles (95.6 per cent tackle efficiency) a game while making 39 tackle breaks. He’ll debut alongside fellow Tahāroa native and cousin Te Maire Martin (30), who has been named as the side’s interchange utility in jersey #14. The One New Zealand Warriors veteran was added to the New Zealand squad as 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. Martin was last an official squad member in 2022 but wasn’t used in the mid-year Test against Tonga. The last of his four internationals to date was the historic one-off Test against England at the Mile High Stadium in Denver in 2018. 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 centers 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 when he averaged 122 meters while finishing 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. |
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