2019 World Rankings - Women

The women's game is growing exponentially and that is reflected in the listing below. Five new countries have been added, taking the number to fourteen. (Mind you, that didn't do Lebanon any favours). I can see the number being much higher in 2020.

For now the top two are well ahead of the rest so it will be interesting how the rest and new nations can close the gap on them The modern game is about size and mobility, which both Australia and NZ have. Where Australia is ahead of NZ at present is the mobility aspect.

			Women 2019
			1	Australia	-
			2	New Zealand	-
			3	England	-
			4	PNG	+2
			5	Canada	-1
			6	France	+1
			7	Cook Is	-2
			8	Italy	-
			9	Serbia	New
			10	Fiji	New
			11	Turkey	New
			12	Samoa	New
			13	Brazil	New
			14	Lebanon	-5

2019 World Rankings - Men

For 2019, a new leader emerged. The Kiwis jumped two places in the process, which shows the differences in ranking are not that large between the top three. Of course, the more games you play the better you do which has some crying foul. However, in a sport where the international game is marginalised a system that rewards nations that takes internationals more seriously should be rewarded.

What I did find intriguing was that four new nations appeared but seven disappeared! I know some of those deleted have played matches so I wonder what that's all about? What that does explain is how Latvia went up four places and is still last.

For the 45 countries on the list, they are colour coded by region, not just for show. It also confirms the sport's worst kept secret, that the Pacific is now clearly RL's strongest region.

			Rankings 2019
			1	New Zealand	+2
			2	Australia	-1
			3	England	-1
			4	Tonga	-
			5	Fiji	-
			6	PNG	+4
			7	Samoa	-
			8	France	-2
			9	Scotland	-1
			10	Lebanon	-1
			11	Greece	+8
			12	Ireland	-
			13	Italy	-
			14	Wales	-3
			15	Serbia	+2
			16	Malta	-
			17	Norway	+3
			18	USA	-3
			19	Poland	+4
			20	Jamaica	-6
			21	Hungary	-3
			22	Czech Rep	+4
			23	Cook Is	+20
			24	Turkey	+7
			25	Netherlands	+1
			26	Spain	+2
			27	Canada	-6
			28	Nigeria	New
			29	Solomon Is	-2
			30	Sweden	+8
			31	Germany	-1
			32	Chile	-
			33	Ghana	New
			34	Morocco	New
			35	Vanuatu	-2
			36	South Africa	+2
			37	Russia	-8
			38	Cameroon	New
			39	Ukraine	-4
			40	Colombia	+1
			41	Brazil	+4
			42	Belgium	-3
			43	Denmark	+1
			44	Bulgaria	+3
			45	Latvia	+4

2021 WC Groups

The teams are decided! A team is chosen from each pot to form a group or pool. None of the teams within a pot will share a group. The pots are as follows. The draw is on November 27th, 2019.

	Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
	Australia	Fiji	France	Cook Islands
	England	Lebanon	Jamaica	Ireland
	New Zealand	PNG	Scotland	Italy
	Tonga	Samoa	Wales	Greece

As for the WC history of the qualifiers, the number of times they have been is shown below. Two nations are new and one 15 times country is a third pot ranking. 

	Nation	Times Been	Nation	Times Been
	Australia	15	France	15
	GB/England	15	Jamaica	0
	New Zealand	15	Scotland	4
	Tonga	5	Wales	5
	Fiji	5	Cook Islands	2
	Lebanon	2	Ireland	4
	PNG	7	Italy	2
	Samoa	5	Greece	0

The groups will be posted below when available.