Māori All Blacks: Te Reo commentary option for two matches against Fiji

Jackson Hemopo in action for the Māori All Blacks. Photo / Photosport

Next month's two New Zealand Māori v Fiji matches – a key World Cup build-up series for Fiji - have been given extra significance following the confirmation from Sky TV that they will be broadcast in Te Reo Māori as an alternate commentary.

The default broadcast option for the games in Suva on July 13 and Rotorua a week later will be in English. It is understood to be the first time in over a decade the Te Reo option has been provided on Sky.

Broadcaster Te Arahi Maipi has the honour of calling the games in Te Reo and he said it was one he didn't take lightly.

"To get the opportunity to commentate these two matches in Te Reo Māori is a massive privilege and responsibility," Maipi told the Herald. "It's very special to be involved with the Māori All Blacks because in Māori sport they are the pinnacle."

Sky TV's director of sport Tex Teixeira said: "It's great to be able to offer the option of Te Reo commentary for these two rugby matches. As a Kiwi broadcaster we're pleased to be able to customise our broadcast in this way and to give customers the choice to hear Māori or English commentary for these two special matches."

While the NZ Māori undertook a successful tour of South America late last year, this series will be the team's most significant since the one-off match against the British and Irish Lions in Rotorua in 2017.

A strong Lions team convincingly won that match at the Rotorua International Stadium 32-10, and the Fijians, ranked ninth in the world, are likely to offer the Māori a similarly tough challenge.

Sky TV have long provided an alternate commentary option for live broadcasts. In Super Rugby their alternate option is simply the crowd noise plus the referee's live microphone.