International Rugby League returns to St Helens on Sunday, with England playing their first international fixture at the Totally Wicked Stadium against a Tonga team who have strong links with both the venue and the town.
Tonga played two of their three group matches in last year’s Rugby League World Cup at the stadium, recording victories over Papua New Guinea and Wales – and their coach Kristian Woolf, a hugely popular and respected figure in St Helens after guiding the Saints to a hat-trick of Betfred Super League titles in his three seasons as head coach, has appointed his successor as Saints coach and all-round St Helens legend Paul Wellens as his assistant for this historic three-Test series.
Throw in the presence of two current Saints players, Konrad Hurrell and Will Hopoate, in the Tonga squad, and it’s not surprising that the tourists have had such a warm reception since arriving in England last week.
But as Woolf and Hurrell recognised this week, Sunday will be different.
The Tongans may be popular, but they will be facing an England team who relish playing on home soil – and who will be captained for the first time by the current Saints talisman Jack Welsby.
It’s the first time England have played a full international in St Helens since the 2000 World Cup, when they demolished Russia at a sparsely attended Knowsley Road.
There have been a number of international fixtures in St Helens since then, with Great Britain taking on New Zealand in a one-off Test at Knowsley Road in 2006, and England facing the Exiles at Langtree Park five years later.
Both matches attracted five-figure crowds, but advance ticket sales for Sunday’s match have already surpassed those attendances and the 10,409 who watched Tonga’s World Cup opener against Papua New Guinea last autumn.
Tonga are already guaranteed the same sort of passionate and colourful support around the ground and from the terrace behind the posts at the East end of the stadium that made their World Cup fixtures such memorable occasions, with Salome Tuliakiono to sing their national anthem before the team gather for their spinetingling Sipi Tau.
Welsby and his England team are relishing the prospect of receiving the same level of support that cheered their run to the World Cup semi finals, with the England Band set to make their St Helens debut to crank up the volume.
A limited number of tickets are still available at eticketing.co.uk/rugbyleague or from saintsrlfc.com/tickets.
As the host venue, tickets bought via St Helens will have a Print At Home option, or matchday collection from the stadium’s Ticket Office (next to the Main Reception) from 10am on Sunday.
Tickets ordered from central sales at eticketing.co.uk/rugbyleague must now be collected from the stadium’s Ticket Office on Sunday.
Matchday ticket sales will be available from the stadium’s Ticket Office, with Standing tickets for the East and West Stands also able to be purchased at the turnstiles for those areas.
