Draw confirmed for Oceania Cup

The Black Sticks Men and Women will face Australia, Samoa and Papua New Guinea in the Oceania Cup in Taranaki from the 30 October to the 3 November.
     The Oceania Hockey Federation has approved the draw that will see four matches played every day across the four days of the tournament, with Friday scheduled as a rest day.
   Trans-Tasman rivalry will be strong with the Black Sticks Women looking to retain their 2011 Oceania Cup title while the Black Sticks Men will take on World Champions Australia for a chance at Oceania Cup victory.
    The women’s final will be played at 2pm and the men’s final will be at 4.30pm on Sunday 3 November.
   The Oceania Cup is one of the five Continental Championships which is played every two years as part of the FIH qualification process for the World Cup and Olympic Games. With Australia and New Zealand’s Men’s and Women’s teams already qualified for next year’s World Cup, it will be ranking points and the chance to take home the Oceania Cup that all teams will be playing for.
   The last time either of the Black Sticks teams played in Taranaki was in 1963 when the men played Australia in New Plymouth and lost 2-3.