World Ranking : 2011 / 2013 / 2014

Here are three years of international ranking with 2012 missing. They are colour coded for the Pacific, Europe, Americas and Africa/Middle East. No points system is perfect but if viewed as as a guide, then it has some merit. The system is run by the RLIF.

For 2014, I have included an up change of rank column compared to 2013. The number of recognised playing nations went from 27 to 34.

	Rankings 2011				Rankings 2013				Rankings 2014
	1	Australia	1215		1	Australia	1109		1	Australia	984	-
	2	New Zealand	1062		2	New Zealand	742		2	New Zealand	884	-
	3	England	682		3	England	571		3	England	485	-
	4	PNG	341		4	France	268		4	Samoa	316	+4
	5	France	250		5	Fiji	201		5	France	215	-1
	6	Samoa	160		6	Wales	173		6	Fiji	184	-1
	7	Wales	149		7	PNG	146		7	Ireland	154	+2
	8	Fiji	146		8	Samoa	146		8	Scotland	123	+3
	9	Tonga	129		9	Ireland	128		9	Wales	122	-3
	10	Scotland	91		10	USA	127		10	USA	119	-
	11	Ireland	73		11	Scotland	102		11	PNG	104	-4
	12	Cook Is	62		12	Italy	84		12	Italy	79	-
	13	USA	57		13	Tonga	55		13	Serbia	49	+4
	14	Italy	45		14	Cook Is	48		14	Canada	49	+2
	15	Lebanon	44		15	Russia	43		15	Russia	45	-
	16	Serbia	39		16	Canada	42		16	Tonga	32	-3
	17	Germany	38		17	Serbia	39		17	Cook Is	31	-3
	18	Russia	31		18	Germany	31		18	Germany	27	-
	19	Norway	30		19	Norway	28		19	Norway	22	-
	20	Latvia	24		20	Lebanon	24		20	Ukraine	21	+1
	21	Malta	20		21	Ukraine	20		21	Belgium	20	+8
	22	Czech Rep	16		22	Malta	19		22	Greece	19	+6
	23	Ukraine	16		23	Jamaica	15		23	Lebanon	19	-3
	24	Canada	14		24	Netherlands	10		24	Malta	18	-2
	25	South Africa	14		25	South Africa	8		25	Netherlands	14	-1
	26	Jamaica	14		26	Czech Rep	7		26	Denmark	13	+1
	27	Sweden	4		27	Denmark	6		27	Jamaica	11	-4
					28	Greece	5		28	Spain	9	New
					29	Belgium	5		29	Czech Rep	7	-3
					30	Latvia	4		30	Sweden	7	+1
					31	Sweden	2		31	South Africa	4	-6
					32	Hungary	1		32	Hungary	2	-
					33	Morocco	0		33	Latvia	0	-3
									34	Morocco	0	-1

World Cup 2017: Australia

Australia has by far the most players and a top notch pro competition so is known as the benchmark for the sport. That only really became established during the late 1970's and early 80's. Before then it was much more even.

1954 was Australia's worst WC, not even looking like making the final. It won well in 1957, before falling back to second in 1960. In '68 world beaters again, narrow winners in 1970 and narrow losers in 1972. After that it was a succession of victories apart from the odd close call and defeat to the Kiwis in 2008.


2017 started off with a conservative win over England, followed by two comfortable but somewhat uninspiring victories. After accounting for Samoa and Fiji without any fuss, the final arrived. It was a strong run without being breathtaking but it doesn't have to be, as long as the silverware is claimed at the end.

Final ranking for the tournament: 1st to 4th (out of 14 teams).

The chart shows the previous WC tournaments Australia has attended. The lower figure for each year is the points differential for the group stage only.

54			57			60			68			70			72			75			77
W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L
1		2	3			2		1	4			2		2	2	1	1	6	1	1	4
-6			+62			-1			+67			+23			+20			+129			+41

88

92

95

00

08

13

17

W

D

L

W

D

L

W

D

L

W

D

L

W

D

L

W

D

L

W

D

L

6

2

9

4

1

6

4

1

6

5

+161

+168

+142

+184

+112

+90

+94

12th - 14th: Scotland, Wales, USA.
9th - 11th: France, Italy, Samoa.
5th - 8th: Ireland, Lebanon, New Zealand, PNG.
1st - 4th: Australia, England, Fiji, Tonga.

World Cup 2017: England

Great Britain was a RL team for many decades. While it took players from across the UK, the vast majority were born in England. When GB was replaced by individual nations, England became the replacement for that entity. The statistics of GB I now include with England.

Report card: Having been to every WC, there is plenty of history to reminisce on. GB won the fist one in 1954, a highlights of which can be seen by clicking here. Well worth a look. In 1957, a second was achieved and 1960 a second WC was won. In 1968, a shock loss to France meant finishing third and in 1970 despite being the best team by some margin, somehow lost the final. In 1972 revenge was achieved with a third and last WC trophy.

In 1975, a close second followed by one point loss in the WC final in 1977. 1988 third was the result and in 1992 a four point loss in the final. In 1995, England made the final undefeated but lost the game that mattered. Then three consecutive WCs with semi final exits.

In 2017, a first up loss to Australia 18-4. The second game was a 29-10 win against Lebanon and 36-6 over France ended pool play. A 36-6 win over PNG and a narrow 20-18 victory at the expense of Tonga had them in the first final since 1995.

England have been solid but not overly convincing either. Good in patches sums it up.

Final ranking for the tournament: 1st to 4th (out of 14 teams).

Below is the WC results, the + and - figure at the bottom of each year not including play  off games.

54			57			60			68			70			72			75			77
W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L
3	1		1		2	3			1		2	3		1	3	1		5	2	1	2		2
+35			-15			+48			+4			+23			+49			+83			+23

88			92			95			00			08			13			17
W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L
4	2	2	5		4	4		1	3		2	1		3	3		2	4		1
+113			+142			+96			+102			-50			+56			+35

12th - 14th: Scotland, Wales, USA.
9th - 11th: France, Italy, Samoa.
5th - 8th: Ireland, Lebanon, New Zealand, PNG.
1st - 4th: Australia, England, Fiji, Tonga.