The Blues and Gallagher Chiefs are taking pre-season on the road this February, with the newly established ‘Cross-Border Rugby 2024’ seeing the two New Zealand DHL Super Rugby Pacific sides take on four teams from Japan Rugby’s League One.

The matches will take place in early February, with an eye towards making the exchange a regular fixture on the rugby calendar in the coming years.

The Blues will play the Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath on February 3 where they’ll meet former Blues First-Five Gareth Anscombe, before taking on the Yokohama Canon Eagles on February 10 where former Blues lock Liaki Moli plies his trade.

Blues CEO Andrew Hore said the matches are the start of an exciting partnership with Japan’s League One and form part of a wider strategy to reinvigorate Super Rugby.

“We’ve seen the evolution of Japanese rugby in recent times and it’s a market we see significant value in as it grows in popularity and we start to redefine our own competition,” said Hore.

“This trip adds another layer to our pre-season at the Blues. It gives players and coaches quality time away in a tour environment to foster relationships and develop combinations ahead of what should be an exciting 2024 DHL Super Rugby season.”

Hore was also keen to point out the need for fostering strong global club relationships as the prospect of a Global Club Championship looms in the coming years.

“Global club connections are vitally important and this trip will help to develop our footprint in Japan while also giving fans a chance to compare different teams and styles of rugby from different parts of the world.”

Meanwhile, Japan Rugby League One Chairman, Motoichi Tamatsuka, said he was thrilled to welcome the Kiwi sides to Japan.

“Fans, get ready for world-class rugby,” he said.

“This marks the realization of our plan to host matches between top-level club teams and League One teams since the inception of our league.”

“We see this as an opportunity to showcase the presence and value of Japan Rugby League One on the global stage and are preparing for an exceptional event, with potential expansion in mind,” he said.

New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark Robinson was equally excited for the opportunity.

“It is great to see the Gallagher Chiefs and Blues playing pre-season matches in Japan, this was one of the opportunities we identified when signing the Memorandum of Understanding with Japan Rugby earlier this year so it’s nice to see it come to fruition.  

Match schedule:

Match 1: February 3, 2024 (Saturday) - Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath vs Blues at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium

Match 2: February 4, 2024 (Sunday) - Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights vs Gallagher Chiefs at Kumagaya Rugby Stadium

Match 3: February 10, 2024 (Saturday) - Kubota Spears Funabashi-Tokyo Bay vs Gallagher Chiefs at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium

Match 4: February 10, 2024 (Saturday) - Yokohama Canon Eagles vs Blues at Nippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium