Following last year’s inaugural Queensland-Saitama Shield fixture in Japan, the Reds and Wild Knights will face-off again on Saturday 4 November at 3:05pm AEST in what will be a historic occasion being the first capped Queensland fixture at Ballymore Stadium since 2010.
Saitama Prefecture was Queensland’s first sister state relationship – formed in 1984 – and remains one of the most active among the many currently still operating between the two countries.
The two sides played off for the first time in 1991 with a Queensland team which featured the likes of Tim Horan, Jason Little, John Eales and Paul Carozza facing the Saitama XV in Japan that included Wild Knights GM Hitoshi Iijima.
Queensland were victorious in the first edition of the Queensland-Saitama Shield in 2022, as the Reds ran-out 55-30 winners at Kumagaya Rugby Stadium.