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Next year heralds the 2013 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC) in England, Wales, Ireland and France. Right up to and the tournament, I’ll be bringing a series of articles on this important event in our sport’s calendar.
Part one of this series will highlight the RLWC draw, and subsequent opinion of this. On Thursday March 22, group games and quarter-final matches for the tournament, being held in October and November next year, were released.
The tournament will kick off at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff with a spectacular first day including the opening ceremony, host nation Wales taking on new qualifiers Italy, and co-hosts England playing Australia.
This is a bold opening to the event and one that has already caused much debate among rugby league fans, namely why England should play on Welsh soil for a first game. Another criticism was not releasing the semi final and final venues.
Rumour has Wembley Stadium in line for a double-header semi final, and Old Trafford, Manchester the final. There is much speculation whether there are rival bids to these venues, namely the new Olympic Stadium in London?
The tournament will be pushing rugby league boundaries, with Limerick’s Thomond Park in Ireland hosting Australia v Ireland, and France playing New Zealand in Avignon and Samoa in Perpignan. Additionally, Bristol will get an exotic clash between first-time qualifiers USA and Cook Islands, a previous tournament participant.
However, this World Cup pays homage to the game’s heartland with a majority of fixtures to be held in Northern England. Lessons of RLWC were learnt after an ambitious fixture list spread over the width and breath of the UK resulted in poor crowds.
It must be noted the tournament was badly exposed by shocking weather and rail strikes that didn’t assist the organisers’ dream for promoting rugby league on a grand scale.
First Minister of the Welsh Government Carwyn Jones said “We are delighted that Wales will join our neighbours England in hosting RLWC2013. It’s wonderful that the capital city of Wales will host participating countries pre-tournament – the only time these nations will all unite during the World Cup.
“It’s also a testament to the great work of Wales Rugby League that we are all here today. Hosting the opening ceremony and the double header here at the Stadium will have major international significance and we look forward to welcoming the world to Wales in 2013.”
A new feature of this RLWC was the bidding process for game and training host cities and towns. This was a great success and many councils submitted successful bids to become a part of the tournament. Others missed out and expressed disappointment.
This nowshows all hosts have vested interests in the tournament and will work hard to ensure its success. It has also guaranteed tournament organisers additional vital income outside of government funding, gate takings, sponsorship, hospitality, media, and merchandise sales.
Further, organisers have remained with the same branding used for the 2008 World Cup in Australia. In my opinion, the colours and logo are excellent and will help build the image and tradition of the tournament. According to RLWC2008 organisers, merchandise sales far exceeded expectations and indicated they were on a winner.
The World Cup brand can be viewed on the official website and Facebook page.
In terms of media interest, the RLWC2013 organisers’ decision to set up an office in the new Media City, Manchester, seems to be paying off. Prominent media outlets such as the Daily Post, Mirror, Telegraph, and Guardian ran announcements on the draw and hosts. The Scotsman even speculated on the “Mystery over rugby league final venue”.
Further abroad, Gulf-Daily-News in the Middle East shared the World Cup announcements. In France, media interest was solid, especially in the South of France. Even the largest French nationwide sports daily, L’Équipe, covered the event.
Most disappointing was the Australian media’s apathy toward anything international. Hopefully some of these so-called rugby league journalists will eventually run with the story.
The following groups and participating nations and hosts are outlined below. Dates of games will also be released once media partners are finalised. It should be noted that there will be cross-over games between groups C and D given there are fewer teams there.
Group A
England v Australia
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff*
Fiji v Ireland
Spotland Stadium, Rochdale
England v Ireland
The Galpharm Stadium, Huddersfield
Australia v Fiji
Langtree Park, St Helens
England v Fiji
KC Stadium, Hull
Australia v Ireland
Thomond Park Stadium, Limerick
* Double header
Group B
France v Papua New Guinea
MS3 Craven Park, Hull
New Zealand v Samoa
The Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington
France v New Zealand
Parc des Sports, Avignon
Samoa v Papua New Guinea
MS3 Craven Park, Hull
New Zealand v Papua New Guinea
Headingley Carnegie Stadium, Leeds
France v Samoa
Gilbert Brutus Stadium, Perpignan
Group C
Scotland v Tonga
Pow Beck Stadium, Whitehaven
Scotland v Italy
Pow Beck Stadium, Whitehaven
Tonga v Italy
The Shay Stadium, Halifax
Group D
Cook Islands v USA
The Memorial Stadium, Bristol
Wales v USA
Glyndŵr University Racecourse Ground, Wrexham
Wales v Cook Islands
The Gnoll, Neath
Group C/D
Wales v Italy
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Tonga v Cook Islands
Leigh Sports Village
Scotland v USA
City of Salford Community Stadium
Quarter Finals
Winner A v Winner D
Glyndŵr University Racecourse Ground, Wrexham
Runner Up A v third place B
DW Stadium, Wigan
Winner B v Winner C
Headingley Carnegie Stadium, Leeds
Runner Up B v third place A
The Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington
I look forward to bringing fans further news on this exciting event as it unfolds.
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