Leeds Rhinos set for Test series win as fans flock to England's Headingley double-header v Tonga and Wales

England’s men face Tonga at Rhinos’ AMT Headingley on Saturday in the final game of their three-Test series, after the women take on Wales in a one-off clash. The city will also host Sunday’s wheelchair rugby league international between England and France, which is a rematch of last year’s World Cup final.

Headingley was a regular international venue from 1908 until the early 1990s, but fell out of favour after that. Saturday will be the 32nd men’s Test staged there, but the first since Great Britain’s 42-14 win over France in June, 2007, though the stadium did host matches in the 2013 and 2022 World Cups.

The stadium rebuild, completed four years ago, has boosted its appeal as a big match venue and ticket sales for the double-header have already passed the first Test attendance of 12,898 at St Helens and the 11,210 crowd in Huddersfield last weekend.

All seating areas have sold out for the event which could see England’s men complete a 3-0 whitewash. The Eastern Terrace is also nearing capacity, but there is still space on the Western Terrace and in the South Stand. A near sell-out crowd will boost Rhinos’ prospects of staging a Test during next year’s proposed series against 2022 World Cup runners-up Samoa.

Centre Harry Newman is the only Rhinos player in contention to feature in the men’s Test, but several Leeds stars will be on duty in the women’s showdown, including Wales captain Bethan Dainton. Former Castleford and Leeds stand-off Georgia Roche is set to play for England for the first time since becoming an NRL Women’s (NRLW) Grand Final winner with Newcastle Knights a month ago.

The RFL are hoping for a crowd of more than 2,000 at the First Direct arena on Sunday when England’s wheelchair side, captained by Rhinos’ Tom Halliwell, aim to repeat last year’s victory over arch rivals France.