Colts vs France (JWC, Canton, Ohio). 2015 NZ Steel Blacks Colts vs Australia (JWC Qualifier). 2016 NZ Steel Blacks vs. American Samoa 2016 NZ Steel Blacks Colts vs Australia History American Football has been played in New Zealand in an organised form since 1982. Early scrimmages reportedly taking place as far back as 1971 at Kelston Boys High school and run by "The Godfather" of NZ football, George O'Scanlon. The first reported game was in 1975 between a team in Auckland known as the ADC Cowboys who travelled to Hamilton for a one-off game against a team from Church College. The scrimmages in Auckland continued and would go on to see the formation of the Metro Lions and Henderson Rangers clubs. There were 4 original clubs formed in 1982, based in Auckland; South Auckland Saints, Metro Lions, Henderson Rangers and North Shore. 2 of those clubs remain today, the Saints as South Auckland Raiders and the Mountain Lions as Metro Lions. Much later competition was started in Wellington and other clubs were formed in places like Whangarei, Tauranga, Hamilton, Wanganui, Palmerston North and Levin. The game today sees the continued growth of the game in Canterbury, Hawkes Bay and Nelson. 1940's exhibition football was played in wartime New Zealand, with games put on by US serviceman during WW2. Reported games were played in both Auckland and Wellington between rival US warships. 1949 sees the first reported NZ football player to make a US college team. Joe Hapi from the Hawkes Bay area appears on the BYU Cougars football team as an offensive lineman. 1964 saw exhibition football played in Gisborne as elders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints put on a game complete with full equipment for the locals. Kaiti Trojans played the Te Hapara Packers. Once again in the late '70s, elders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints introduced football to the Polynesian communities in Auckland and Hamilton, which would lead to the early scrimmages and the competition in Auckland as we know it today. 1983 saw the San Francisco 49ers draft high-profile USC linebacker Riki Ellison. Riki's presence in the NFL would help promote the game to NZers and prove that Kiwis could make it in professional American Football. During the late 80's NZ Football received unprecedented media coverage when TV3 began to broadcast NFL highlights packages and Sky Sports would televise