Australia are the new number one ranked team in Men’s rugby league, overtaking New Zealand, England and Tonga after their World Cup win in Manchester last month, according to the official International Rugby League (IRL) rankings announced today.
New Zealand remain second, but Samoa also jump England and their nearest rivals, moving to third. England retain fourth spot, Tonga are fifth and PNG leapfrog Fiji into sixth.
“This is great news,” said Mal Meninga, the victorious Kangaroos coach from the World Cup. “I feel that we thoroughly deserve to get our No.1 ranking back considering the increased challenges now with the rise of the Pacific nations”.
The Jillaroos remain number one in the Women’s Rankings after third consecutive World Cup triumph, while England overtake France in the Wheelchair list after having defeated them in the Final.
“We are ecstatic to still be in No.1,” said Jillaroos coach Brad Donald.
“Back in 2016 the group came together and those players were the ones who said they wanted the team to be the best in the world; to put the focus on women’s rugby league and help grow a domestic competition in Australia, which we did in 2018.
“As we see the emergence of the NRLW, the great depth of players and the participation rates from under 6s to open age women it is a credit to all involved in growing the game.””
The Kangaroos’ rise was somewhat predictable, having won the tournament, but puts to bed one of the long-running sagas in international footy: many in Australia were outraged that they were not top of the pile prior to the tournament despite not actually playing any matches.
Australia did not play a men’s senior international between their defeat to Tonga in 2019 and their win over Fiji on the opening day of the 2022 edition of the World Cup, and had only a 50% record since the last tournament, having also lost to the Kiwis in 2018.
In the same time period, New Zealand had a 50/50 record against Australia, plus a 3-2 record against England/Great Britain and a 2022 midseason Test win over Tonga, giving them a stronger weighting.
“On behalf of the IRL I would like to congratulate the Australian men’s and women’s teams and the England wheelchair team,” said IRL chair Troy Grant.
“All three teams proved they are the best in their discipline with unbeaten records at the recently completed World Cup in England, culminating in victory in their finals at Old Trafford and Manchester Central.
“In the case of England, they also overcame France – the previous No.1 ranked wheelchair team – in a mid-season Test before again triumphing against the defending world champions in the World Cup final.
“For the Kangaroos and Jillaroos, the World Cup marked a welcome return to the international arena after a hiatus since 2019 due to COVID restrictions and fans look forward to seeing the world champions in action in 2023.
“Congratulations to the other teams who have risen up the IRL World Rankings, including Samoa, whose run to the men’s World Cup final sparked remarkable scenes around the world”.
Lebanon also shot up the rankings after a successful World Cup, moving to 8th ahead of France, Wales and Ireland. Greece and Scotland, who competed in the World Cup, remain below Serbia, who plays more internationals in 2019, 2021 and 2022 and thus retain points despite not qualifying for the tournament.
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