July, played in Budapest, Hungary and Jacksonville, USA:
Hungary 56-4 Poland.
Czech Republic 26-6 Hungary.
USA 48-6 Jamaica.
Summary: I believe the first two games were part of a series which I will call Central Europe Tri-Series. I don't have a date for the third match, if indeed it goes ahead but at this point the Czech Republic look to be the winner, with Hungary second and Poland third. That would reflect my understanding of each nation's length of time in the game.
The USA - Jamaica match is the first in the America's Championship. It very much went the way of the hosts as was expected, but well done Jamaica for a gallant effort.
August, played in Kalundborg, Denmark. Kingston, Jamaica. and Osnabrück, Germany:
Norway 40-24 Denmark.
Jamaica 28-14 Canada.
The Netherlands 30-18 Germany.
Summary: The first game listed above was part of the Nordic Cup Tri-Series, the second to be played in the series. This result gave the series to Norway, with second and third place determined next month.
The second game in the America's Championship was played in Jamaica, the first RL test ever played in that country. It went to the home side so for Canada to take the title it will have to defeat the USA by a large margin.
The Netherlands defeated Germany for the first time ever and in Germany too, in a friendly match. The Netherlands is wanting to lift its standards in RL and hopefully this will spur Germany on keep on progressing.
September, played in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Vancouver & Toronto, Canada:
Fiji 22-6 Canada.
USA 36-18 Canada.
Summary: In a friendly game - not part of a tournament - The Netherlands showed their improvement with a victory over Sweden, a more experienced nation in RL.
Then Fiji brought domestic only players to take on Canada and won quite comfortably. Better goal kicking would have separated the scores even more. The game is progressing well in Fiji and Canada needs to expand its participation numbers.
The USA were too strong as you would expect with a more developed domestic competition. Still, it wasn't a given and going up to Canada meant home town advantage for the Wolverines.
Also September, played in Sydney, Australia:
El Salvador 48-10 Uruguay.
Chile 20-20 Thailand.
Summary: I'm not sure what international status these games had but at least they were between nations.
El Salvador won its first RL international with a convincing victory over Uruguay. Apparently they prepared well and despite only having two interchange players, did themselves proud.
Chile took a convincing early lead against the Thai side but were caught in the latter stage of the game.
Picture source: Rugby League Planet.
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