And the Touch Blacks squads will lean on a large contingent from Otago to bring glory against old enemy Australia.
Covid has sidelined the New Zealand touch teams for the past three years.
But the representative programme is operating again and the national squads include a solid group of Otago players.
Hamish Faulks has been named in the men’s team. He was at Otago Boys’ last year and is an exciting prospect.
He will be making his debut, as will older brother Angus, who has been named in the mixed team, which also includes experienced winger Atawhai Hotene, Mariana Winiana and Tama Hawken.
Seasoned touch players Meg Sycamore and Trisha Hopcroft have again been selected in the women’s side, while Otago touch stalwart Toni Wall will manage the men’s team and Damian Burden is the assistant coach of the mixed team.
The teams will attend a transtasman event in Brisbane on April 21-23.
Burden said it would be the first series "we’ve had with the Touch Blacks since the 2019 World Cup due to Covid".
The transtasman event will be contested by New Zealand, Australia and Japan.
The teams will play each other three times, so they will play a total of six games in three days.
Burden, who was part of the New Zealand mixed 30s squad that won the World Cup in Scotland in 2011, said the transtasman tournament was a step into the unknown as it had been so long since the teams had played.
"We are expecting Australia to have new-look teams, and we ... are definitely different from the last World Cup, so there are a whole lot of debutants that are going to get to take the field for the first time at this level which is really exciting.
"Our men’s team has some really strong experienced players and also some exciting new talent as well, including young Hamish Faulks. And Angus is going to be debuting for the mixed, so it is super exciting for that family."
All three New Zealand sides finished second to Australia at the last World Cup, so there is some hurting to heal.
"They were very close games ... but it is definitely our revenge tour in April."
Touch Blacks
Otago representation
Men: Hamish Faulks, Toni Wall (manager).
Mixed: Angus Faulks, Atawhai Hotene, Mariana Winiana, Tama Hawken, Damian Burden (assistant coach).
Women: Meg Sycamore, Trisha Hopcroft.
