A national Under-18 Maori Rugby Development team has been selected for the first time.
The team will play a curtain-raiser match before the Bay of Plenty Steamers v Auckland match in round six of the Mitre 10 Cup on Sunday, September 25.
The side will play a Bay of Plenty Maori Te Waiariki U19 team at Rotorua International Stadium at 2pm.
Bay of Plenty is represented by Ronin Ainsley from Tauranga's Te Wharekura o Mauao, Blake Bird from Rotorua Boys' High School and Devin Te Tai from Whakatane Marist.
The Maori team announced by deputy chairman of the New Zealand Maori Rugby Board, Peter Goldsmith, is made up of talented school age boys who have been part of New Zealand Rugby's E Tu Toa rugby development programme in 2016.