World Ranking : 2016-18

Each year there is the nerve racking moment when the end of year RL International Rankings is released. National bodies scurry to their devices to see how they have fared, with sounds of glee or moans of despair heard around the world.

Well, maybe I have overstated the situation somewhat. In fact, most will know what the likely outcome anyway. The criteria for success or failure is based on two things, how many internationals the country was involved with and how well they performed.

Because of that, the list isn't always reflective of where a team would be placed according to the national team's true value. For instance, Belgium, Denmark and the Cook Islands aren't doing much so they all suffered accordingly. On the other hand, Niue, the Solomon Islands and Hungary were much more involved and were rewarded accordingly.

So that is a major point of the rankings. It doesn't just reward results but also those countries that push for more games. In a sport where the major players have always viewed the international game as a distraction, rewarding those that see promote it is a way of changing that inward looking perspective.

Many new nations were introduced in both 2016 and 2017, with two new ones in 2018. Morocco, which was listed although effectively banned has finally been removed for this year, along with Thailand as it sorts out governance issues. The two new ones were Poland and Turkey, in the case of Poland I'm surprised how they arrived at 23rd. Movement at the top is rare so to see NZ take the lead in 2015, lose it a year later and now fall to third is unusually action packed.

This year has seen the introduction of points for the public to see. It provides a more transparent system and lets us see how close nations are to each other. The list below is colour coded according to the region.

	Rankings 2016				Rankings 2017				Rankings 2018
	1	Australia	+1		1	Australia	-		1	Australia	100	-
	2	New Zealand	-1		2	New Zealand	-		2	England	92	+1
	3	England	-		3	England	-		3	New Zealand	89	-1
	4	Scotland	+5		4	Tonga	+10		4	Tonga	45	-
	5	Samoa	-1		5	Fiji	+2		5	Fiji	29	-
	6	France	-1		6	Samoa	-1		6	France	26	+2
	7	Fiji	-		7	Scotland	-3		7	Samoa	24	-1
	8	Ireland	-2		8	France	-2		8	Scotland	20	-1
	9	Wales	-1		9	Lebanon	+12		9	Lebanon	19	-
	10	USA	-		10	PNG	+5		10	PNG	16	-
	11	Serbia	-		11	Ireland	-3		11	Wales	11	+1
	12	Canada	+1		12	Wales	-3		12	Ireland	11	-1
	13	Italy	-1		13	Italy	-		13	Italy	8	-
	14	Tonga	+2		14	USA	-4		14	Jamaica	6	+1
	15	PNG	-1		15	Jamaica	+2		15	USA	6	-1
	16	Russia	-1		16	Serbia	-5		16	Malta	6	+2
	17	Jamaica	+10		17	Canada	-5		17	Serbia	6	-1
	18	Belgium	-1		18	Malta	+2		18	Hungary	6	+11
	19	Spain	+2		19	Russia	-3		19	Greece	5	+4
	20	Malta	-2		20	Belgium	-2		20	Norway	5	+2
	21	Lebanon	-1		21	Spain	-2		21	Canada	4	-4
	22	Ukraine	+1		22	Norway	+4		22	Philippines	4	+2
	23	Germany	-4		23	Greece	+5		23	Poland	3	New
	24	Czech Rep	+6		24	Philippines	+9		24	Niue	3	+9
	25	Cook Is	-3		25	Ukraine	-3		25	Czech Rep	3	+1
	26	Norway	-		26	Czech Rep	-2		26	Netherlands	3	+1
	27	Denmark	-2		27	Netherlands	+3		27	Solomon Is	3	+15
	28	Greece	-4		28	Germany	-5		28	Spain	2	-7
	29	Sweden	-		29	Hungary	+9		29	Russia	2	-10
	30	Netherlands	-2		30	Cook Is	-5		30	Germany	2	-2
	31	South Africa	-		31	Sweden	-2		31	Turkey	2	New
	32	Niue	-		32	Chile	+2		32	Chile	2	-
	33	Philippines	New		33	Niue	-1		33	Vanuatu	2	+3
	34	Chile	New		34	Denmark	-7		34	Japan	2	+7
	35	Vanuatu	New		35	South Africa	-4		35	Ukraine	2	-10
	36	Latvia	-2		36	Vanuatu	-1		36	El Salvador	1	+1
	37	Solomon Is	New		37	El Salvador	+2		37	South Africa	2	-2
	38	Hungary	-5		38	Thailand	New		38	Sweden	1	-7
	39	El Salvador	New		39	Argentina	New		39	Belgium	1	-19
	40	Morocco	-5		40	Colombia	New		40	Hong Kong	1	+5
					41	Japan	New		41	Colombia	1	-1
					42	Solomon Is	-4		42	Argentina	1	-3
					43	Brazil	New		43	Cook Is	1	-13
					44	Uruguay	New		44	Denmark	1	-10
					45	Hong Kong	New		45	Brazil	1	-2
					46	Bulgaria	New		46	Uruguay	0	-2
					47	Latvia	-11		47	Bulgaria	0	-1
					48	Morocco	-8		48	Latvia	0	-1