Thursday 30 November 2017

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

1Australia1215
1Australia1109
1Australia984-

2New Zealand1062
2New Zealand742
2New Zealand884-

3England682
3England571
3England485-

4PNG341
4France268
4Samoa316+4

5France250
5Fiji201
5France215-1

6Samoa160
6Wales173
6Fiji184-1

7Wales149
7PNG146
7Ireland154+2

8Fiji146
8Samoa146
8Scotland123+3

9Tonga129
9Ireland128
9Wales122-3

10Scotland91
10USA127
10USA119-

11Ireland73
11Scotland102
11PNG104-4

12Cook Is62
12Italy84
12Italy79-

13USA57
13Tonga55
13Serbia49+4

14Italy45
14Cook Is48
14Canada49+2

15Lebanon44
15Russia43
15Russia45-

16Serbia39
16Canada42
16Tonga32-3

17Germany38
17Serbia39
17Cook Is31-3

18Russia31
18Germany31
18Germany27-

19Norway30
19Norway28
19Norway22-

20Latvia24
20Lebanon24
20Ukraine21+1

21Malta20
21Ukraine20
21Belgium20+8

22Czech Rep16
22Malta19
22Greece19+6

23Ukraine16
23Jamaica15
23Lebanon19-3

24Canada14
24Netherlands10
24Malta18-2

25South Africa14
25South Africa8
25Netherlands14-1

26Jamaica14
26Czech Rep7
26Denmark13+1

27Sweden4
27Denmark6
27Jamaica11-4





28Greece5
28Spain9New





29Belgium5
29Czech Rep7-3





30Latvia4
30Sweden7+1





31Sweden2
31South Africa4-6





32Hungary1
32Hungary2-





33Morocco0
33Latvia0-3









34Morocco0-1

Wednesday 29 November 2017

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: ScotlandWalesUSA.
9th - 11th: FranceItalySamoa.
5th - 8th: IrelandLebanonNew ZealandPNG.
1st - 4th: AustraliaEnglandFijiTonga.

Tuesday 28 November 2017

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: ScotlandWalesUSA.
9th - 11th: FranceItalySamoa.
5th - 8th: IrelandLebanonNew ZealandPNG.
1st - 4th: AustraliaEnglandFijiTonga.