Making their debut in Australia, the Penina Pasifika Women’s Rugby team will play against the Queensland Reds in the Super Rugby Women’s pre-season tournament on Saturday, 23 February.

Their first match will be at 3:30pm, local time at Ballymore in Brisbane.

Welcomed with a dinner on the Gold Coast, the team was greeted by local Pacific people, community leaders and Rugby Australia officials.

Tongan player, Shonte To’a thanked the local community for welcoming the team.

“We are grateful to Uncle John and the custodians of the land, past, present, and emerging - thank you to the people who have blessed us today, we are happy and grateful to receive them”.

Samoa’s Nina Foaese also acknowledged the support Penina Pasifika has received from their stakeholders, PacificAus Sports, the Pasifika community and the Gold Coast community hosts.

Mayor Tom Tate said the Gold Coast community stood ready to support the team during their stay, and he was looking forward to attending their matches.

Rugby Australia's Pacific Partnership Manager, Daniel Millis, said they were honoured to partner with Pacific Unions, World Rugby, Oceania Rugby, and the Australian Government to provide players with a development opportunity to strengthen women’s rugby across our region.