The 2017 Rugby League World Cup Europe qualification was a rugby league tournament held in October and November 2016 to decide the three European qualifiers for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.
It consisted of a round-robin tournament which saw Wales and Ireland qualify by winning their respective tables. Italy claimed the final qualifying spot in the World Cup after winning a second place play-off against Russia on 4 November 2016.
Overview edit
On 3 October 2014, the 2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifying competition was announced.[1] Three European teams were granted automatic qualification, as they had reached the quarter-finals of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup; England, France and Scotland.
Ten teams were able to qualify for the qualification tournament, with the first being eliminated when Spain defeated Latvia on 9 May 2015.[2]
Wales and Ireland were granted entry to the qualification tournament. Both teams already had a chance to qualify for the World Cup during the 2014 European Cup, but failed to do so.[3] One of the other tournament places was allocated to the winner of the European Championship C tournament, and the other three were allocated to the top three teams from the European Championship B.
Italy, Russia and Serbia finished as the top three teams in the European Championship B, with Ukraine being eliminated.[4]
Spain finished as the top team in the European Championship C, with Greece and Malta eliminated.
Teams edit
Qualified teams for final phase:
Wales were granted automatic entry as 1st seed
Ireland were granted automatic entry as 2nd seed
Serbia qualified as 3rd seed after finishing top of the Rugby League European Championship B.
Russia qualified as 4th seed after finishing 2nd in the Rugby League European Championship B.
Italy qualified as 5th seed after finishing 3rd in the Rugby League European Championship B.
Spain qualified as 6th seed after finishing top of the Rugby League European Championship C.
Squads edit
Ireland edit
The final Ireland 22-man squad as of 9 October 2016 is as follows:[5]
- Coach:
Mark Aston
Italy edit
The final Italy 22-man squad as of 8 October 2016 is as follows:[6]
- Coach:
Cameron Ciraldo
- * Denotes a rugby union club.
Russia edit
The final Russia 22-man squad as of 6 September 2016 is as follows:[7]
- Coach: Denis Korolev
- * Denotes a rugby union club.
Serbia edit
The final 22-man squad as of 5 October 2016 is as follows:[8]
- Coach: Ljubomir Bukvic
Spain edit
The final 22-man squad as of 4 October 2016 is as follows:[9]
- Coach: Darren Fisher
- * Denotes a rugby union club.
Wales edit
The final Wales 22-man squad as of 7 October 2016 is as follows:[10]
On October 14, Dai Evans was brought into the squad to replace Calvin Wellington who withdrew due to a hamstring injury.[11]
On October 21, 19-year old Ben Morris was called up to the squad to play in a mid-qualifying campaign test match against Jamaica.[12]
On October 29, Danny Ansell was called up to the squad with a possibility of playing in the last qualifying game against Italy.[13]
*Sam Hopkins was called into the team for the final qualifier against Italy after Jacob Emmitt withdrew due to a hamstring injury.[14]
- Coach: John Kear
Final Tables edit
Group A edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Wales
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 70 | 14 | +56 | 4 | Qualification for 2017 Rugby League World Cup |
| 2 |  Italy
|
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 76 | 34 | +42 | 2 | Advance to fourth round |
| 3 |  Serbia
|
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 112 | −98 | 0 |
Group B edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Ireland
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 116 | 22 | +94 | 4 | Qualification for 2017 Rugby League World Cup |
| 2 |  Russia
|
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 56 | 76 | −20 | 2 | Advance to fourth round |
| 3 |  Spain
|
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 86 | −74 | 0 |
Fixtures edit
Russia vs Spain edit
15 October 2016[15]
|
| Russia
|
40 – 6 | Spain
|
|---|---|---|
| Try: Burlutskii 12' Zagoskin 14' Kosharin 33' Lysokon 44' Bratko 54' Chuprin 76' Buryak 79' Goal:
Lysokon 4/5 |
Report |
Try: Rango 69' Goal: Garcia 1/1 |
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Wales vs Serbia edit
15 October 2016[16]
|
| Wales
|
50 – 0 | Serbia
|
|---|---|---|
| Try: Williams (2) 12', 19 Grace (2) 28', 56 Olds (2) 33', 69' Davies 46' Gay 52' Dudson 76 Goal: White 4/6 Davies 3/3 |
Report |
Try: |
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Serbia vs Italy edit
22 October 2016[17]
|
| Serbia
|
14 – 62 | Italy
|
|---|---|---|
| Try: Marjanović (2) 68', 79' Burke 73' Goal: Dedić 1/2 |
Report |
Try: Lepori (4) 4', 10', 12', 46' Cerruto (4) 17', 35', 49', 71' Wakeman 22' Santi 45' Campese 58' Calegari 62' Goal: Bergamasco 7/11 Campese 0/1 |
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Spain vs Ireland edit
22 October 2016
|
| Spain
|
6 – 46 | Ireland
|
|---|---|---|
| Try: Charters-Blanco 62' Goal: Garcia 1/1 |
Report |
Try: Roberts 2' Dunne (2) 5', 52' Littler (2) 29', 74' Hasson 39' Peacock 56' King 66' Grix 77' Goal: Finn 5/9 |
Polideportivo Quatre Carreres, Valencia
Attendance: 323 Referee:  Patrice BenaussePlayer of the Match: Liam Finn |
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Italy vs Wales edit
29 October 2016[18]
|
| Italy
|
14 – 20 | Wales
|
|---|---|---|
| Try: Wilkie 26' Castellaro 29' Goal: Campese 3/3 |
Report |
Try: Morris (2) 16', 59' Walker 37' Gay 52' Goal: Davies 2/4 |
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Ireland vs Russia edit
30 October 2016[17]
|
| Ireland
|
70 – 16 | Russia
|
|---|---|---|
| Try: Hope 7' Dunne 10' McMahon (2) 13', 36' Grix (2) 23', 62' T. King 32' McDonnell 38' Roberts (2) 46', 72' G. King 59' Kelly 64' Littler 69' Goal:Finn 8/11 Littler 1/2 |
Report |
Try: Eramin 4' Kalinin 26' Buryak 79' Goal: Lysokon 2/3 |
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Second place play-off edit
The final qualifying place was determined by a single knockout match held between the two group runners-up on 4 November 2016.
References edit
- ^ QUALIFICATION DETAILS FOR 2017 RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CUP ANNOUNCED Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, rlef.eu.com, 3 August 2014
- ^ Spain defeat Latvia to take first step towards RLWC2017, rlif.com, 10 May 2015
- ^ Extra incentive for Wales & Ireland this Euro Championship, rlif.com, 13 October 2014
- ^ Serbia claim a historic first-ever victory over Russia - 2017 World Cup qualifying Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, rlef.eu.com, 16 May 2015
- ^ IRELAND NAME SQUAD AFTER TRIAL MATCH Archived 2016-10-10 at the Wayback Machine, rlef.com, 9 October 2016
- ^ ITALY NAME COSMOPOLITAN 22-MAN SQUAD FOR WORLD CUP QUALIFIER[permanent dead link], rlef.com, 8 October 2016
- ^ RUSSIA NAME NEW LOOK SQUAD FOR WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS Archived 2016-10-09 at the Wayback Machine, rlef.com, 6 October 2016
- ^ THREE DEBUTANTS IN SERBIA 22-MAN SQUAD FOR QUALIFIERS Archived 2016-10-06 at the Wayback Machine, rlef.com, 6 October 2016
- ^ FIVE DEBUTANTS IN SPAIN 22-MAN SQUAD FOR QUALIFIERS Archived 2016-10-18 at the Wayback Machine, rlef.com, 4 October 2016
- ^ WALES CONFIDENT FOR WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS Archived 2016-10-09 at the Wayback Machine, rlef.com, 7 October 2016
- ^ DAI EVANS DRAFTED IN TO WALES' 22-MAN SQUAD, WALES RUGBY LEAGUE, 14 October 2016
- ^ MORRIS HOPING TO FEATURE FOR WALES AFTER CALL-UP, WALES RUGBY LEAGUE, 21 October 2016
- ^ ANSELL READY FOR WALES DEBUT IF CALLED UPON, WALES RUGBY LEAGUE, 28 October 2016
- ^ International dates for Leigh Centurions pair, Leigh Journal, 29 October 2016
- ^ "Russia and Spain will kick-off 2017 RLWC European Qualifiers in Moscow". Rugby League Planet. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
- ^ "WALES TO TAKE ON SERBIA IN LLANELLI". walesrugbyleague.co.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- ^ a b "World Cup 2017: Pool breakdown". NRL.com. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
- ^ "Rugby League World Cup European Qualifier to be staged in Monza". Rugby League Planet. Archived from the original on 28 May 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
- ^ http://leighsportsvillage.advancedticketing.co.uk/en/pool-a-runner-up-v-pool-b-runner-up/tickets-36948.html [dead link]