The 2017 Rugby League World Cup draw has been announced, some teams know their fate, and the coaches will begin preparation for the planet’s biggest gathering of international rugby league.
As set out during the announcement, the pool structure is based off the last World Cup, in 2013, as well as current rankings.
RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CUP FIXTURES
Structure
There will be four pools read out as A, B, C and D. Pools A and B have four sides, while Pools C and D contain three.
The top three nations from A and B will advance to the quarter-finals, while for C and D, top spot is the only side that will advance.
Each side in A will play each other once, as is the case for Pool B.
Pools C and D however, will cross over each other. Each nation plays the other two sides in their pool once, plus one game against a side from the other pool.
There are 11 teams in the tournament so far, with three final countries to fill out Pools C and D coming from a European qualifying tournament later this year.
So how does your country stack up? Who’s got an easy draw? Who’s got a tough road ahead?
Let’s have an early look at each pool for next year’s tournament.
Pool A
Australia
England
France
Lebanon
Pool A could be considered the toughest of the four groups, containing three of the top five teams in the world, yet it’s actually the most straight-forward.
With three spots open to qualify, Australia, England and France should have a fairly safe passage into the quarter-finals over a much smaller Lebanon side.
Australia head in as ten-time and defending champions, but have lost their number one spot to New Zealand in recent years. However, their dominance over France and England opens up top billing for the taking.
England are hit with Australia in the tournament opener, but it’s their match-up against France that could have the biggest bearing on not just their campaign, but also that of the French.
A loss, and third spot in the pool, could lead to a quarter-final meeting with New Zealand for either team.
Lebanon are playing two of their three games at the Sydney Football Stadium, the only two games for NSW in the tournament. As the lowest-ranked side in the tournament thus far, pulling off an upset win seems unlikely, thus the top three qualifiers should be Australia, England and France.
Winner: Australia
Pool B
New Zealand
Samoa
Scotland
Tonga
This should be the most intriguing group in the tournament, and certainly the most competitive across the board.
Aside from New Zealand, who comfortably beat Scotland and Samoa at the previous edition of the World Cup, it’s the battle between the rest for a spot in the quarter-finals that tears this pool wide open.
The contest between island nations Tonga and Samoa is a fierce rivalry in rugby league, one that stretches further than sport, and into the fabric of the proud Pacific nations.
Throw Scotland into the mix, and this will be a very tough jostle for finals spots. The Scottish actually knocked Tonga out of the previous World Cup, going into the quarter-finals, while Samoa finished ahead of France in their group.
Tonga will face the Kiwis in their final pool match, so they will have to do all their damage beforehand to qualify. In saying that though, any of these three sides have a huge chance of knocking New Zealand off the perch, such is the strength of Pool B.
Winner: New Zealand
Pool C
Papua New Guinea
European Qualifier 1
European Qualifier 2
Pool C is tough to call at this stage, simply because there’s only one team in it.
Papua New Guinea live and breathe rugby league, being the only nation in the world to have the game as its national sport, so they will be driven and ruthless.
Any two of Wales, Serbia, Italy, Russia, Ireland or Spain could be duking it out with PNG in 2017, but we have to wait for the European qualifiers in October of this year to find out.
Ireland and Wales both sit inside the top ten, ahead of the Kumuls, so it’s going to be a tight battle for the one and only qualifying spot if either of those two come through.
Winner: Papua New Guinea
Pool D
Fiji
USA
European Qualifier 3
Similar to Pool C, it’s hard to run down an incomplete group.
Fiji probably have the upper hand and a stronger side than the USA, having made it to the semi-finals of the last cup, however USA also snuck their way into the finals at the same tournament, proving their growth and expansion of the sport in the US just in the last decade.
It’s a waiting game for the third spot, but it’s an uphill battle for any of the aforementioned six teams in the hunt for European qualifying.
Winner: USA
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