Emerging Nations / Regional Champs : 2018 Review

Emerging Nations:

Eleven nations took part, more could have but these below were the ones involved. I wish more nations could have been represented but travel costs were an issue. Those countries who could draw on Australian heritage players seem to be the ones who attended. The RLIF want a northern and southern version to get around that problem. (My preview can be seen by clicking here).

Some nations were made up exclusively of heritage players from Australia, which saved travel cost and probably improved the standard anyway. Others were mixed or almost exclusively players from the nation they represent. Either way, we hope there is some spin-off to benefit the participating nations. Here were the tables and results.

First Round
Group A		W	L	Pt	PD	Results
1	Niue	2	0	4	+22	Malta	36-10	Philippines
2	Malta	1	1	2	+16	Niue	26-16	Malta
3	Philippines	0	2	0	-38	Niue	24-12	Philippines
Group B		W	L	Pt	PD	Results
1	Hungary	2	0	4	+7	Hungary	20-18	Greece
2	Greece	1	1	2	+36	Hungary	18-13	Vanuatu
3	Vanuatu	0	2	0	-43	Greece	38-0	Vanuatu
Group C		W	L	Pt	PD	Results
1	Poland	2	0	4	+108	Turkey	30-22	Solomon Is
2	Turkey	2	0	4	+68	Turkey	60-0	Japan
3	Solomon Is	1	1	2	+12	Poland	62-6	Hong Kong
4	Hong Kong	0	2	0	-76	Solomon Is	32-12	Hong Kong
5	Japan	0	2	0	-112	Poland	58-6	Japan

Only sides from Group A and B could make the final. Interestingly, the two teams from Group C that played the third placed sides from Groups A and B both won. They were Poland and Turkey who came in 5th and 7th respectively. Solomon Is won the Bowl section and Poland was the Trophy winner. 

Both group B qualifiers went head to head for the 3rd and 4th spots with both losing the semi-final matches and reversed their group positions, with Greece coming out on top this time. Niue and Malta finished first and second in Group A and by winning the semi-final games made the Cup final. Again the placings were reversed when Malta won the Cup. 

Second Round
Bowl	Rk	W-L / Pts	Bowl Results
Solomon Is	9th	2-0 / 4 pts	Solomon Is	44-22	Japan
Japan	10th	1-1 / 2 pts	Japan	32-30	Hong Kong
Hong Kong	11th	0-2 / 0 pts	Solomon Is	56-14	Hong Kong
Trophy Results
			Play-off 7th / 8th
Philippines	29-16	Turkey	Turkey	27-26	Vanuatu
Poland	44-4	Vanuatu	Play-off 5th / 6th
			Poland	14-10	Philippines
Cup Results
			Play-off 3rd / 4th
Niue	16-8	Greece	Greece	26-18	Hungary
Malta	20-10	Hungary	Play-off 1st / 2nd
			Malta	24-16	Niue

Regional Championships:

Four regions again made up of local Australians (I'm unsure if any players traveled to compete) played in what was known as the Regional Championship. The competition was tight. Three sides won two and lost one, with only Latin America losing all three. 

Regional Championships
Group C		W	L	Pt	PD	Results
1	Africa	2	1	6	+33	Africa	32-20	ASEAN
2	Mediter - M E	2	1	6	+27	Mediter-M E	26-12	Latin America
3	ASEAN	2	1	6	+2	Mediter-M E	35-18	Africa
4	Latin America	0	3	0	-62	ASEAN	30-20	Latin America
						ASEAN	32-28	Mediter-M E
						Africa	48-10	Latin America

In the game to decide 3rd and 4th, the side representing Asia narrowly defeated the Latin American team to take third place. Then the encounter to determine 1st and 2nd Mediterranean / Middle East defeated Africa to take the top spot.

Hopefully some benefit can be achieved for the regions they represented. Some of the players may be inspired to become heritage players. They could then join players from nations within those regional groups, to strengthen those teams in future internationals.

Regional Finals
Play-off 3rd / 4th			Play-off 1st / 2nd
ASEAN	18-14	Latin America	Mediter-M E	32-6	Africa