The 2017 Rugby League World Cup was the fifteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup tournament and took place in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea between 27 October and 2 December 2017.[1] The tournament featured the national teams of 14 Rugby League International Federation member countries who qualified through either standing in the previous tournament or a series of qualification play-off matches. In the final, defending champions Australia, playing in their 14th consecutive final, defeated England at Brisbane's Lang Park.
Two formal bids were subsequently received by the RLIF before a November 2012 deadline; the co-host bid from Australia and New Zealand and a bid from South Africa.[4][5][6] On 19 February 2014, it was announced that the joint bid from Australia and New Zealand had won hosting rights.[7]
Michael Brown, the CEO of several big name Australian sporting franchises and the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, was originally appointed CEO of the World Cup in 2015, but resigned less than a year later due to 'workload' and 'homesickness'.[8] He was replaced by Andrew Hill.[9]
It was announced on 3 August 2014 that 7 of the 8 quarter-finalists from the last World Cup would qualify automatically for the 2017 tournament; hosts Australia and New Zealand, plus England, Fiji, France, Samoa and Scotland. The USA, who were also 2013 quarter-finalists, were denied automatic qualification after a long-running internal governance dispute saw their RLIF membership temporarily suspended in 2014; later, once the matter was resolved, they were accepted into the qualification process. Papua New Guinea were initially set to be involved in the qualifying competition but were later granted automatic qualification, due to becoming co-hosts of the tournament. In addition to the eight automatic qualifiers, the remaining six spots will come from four different qualification zones; three from Europe, one from Asia/Pacific, one from Americas and one from Middle East/Africa.[10]
The draw was undertaken at the launch of the event in Auckland on 19 July 2016[11] and involved the same four group format as the 2013 tournament.
The first two groups are made up of four teams whilst the other two groups feature three teams each. The top three teams in the first two groups and the winners of the two smaller groups will qualify for the quarter-finals. Group play will involve a round robin in the larger groups, and a round robin in the smaller groups with an additional inter-group game for each team so all teams will play three group games.[12]
It was announced in October 2014 that negotiations were being held for Papua New Guinea to host matches.[13] The Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League presented to the RLIF in September 2015, requesting to host three matches.[14] In October 2015 it was confirmed that Papua New Guinea would host three matches in the group stage.[15]
The first two groups are made up of four teams whilst the other two groups feature three teams each. The top three teams in the Group A and B, and the winners of Group C and D will qualify for the quarter-finals. Group play will involve a round robin in the larger groups, and a round robin in the smaller groups with an additional inter-group game for each team so all teams will play three group games.[12]
Three teams from each of Groups A and B and one team from each of Groups C and D advanced to the quarter-finals. All quarter-finalists automatically qualified for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.[44] The quarter-final fixture were finalised at the conclusion of the pool stages, to ensure that Australia played in Darwin on 17 November and New Zealand in Wellington on 18 November.[45]
Updated to match(es) played on 30 July 2021. Source: World Cup 2017 (H) Hosts
Criticism and controversy
The lack of games in New South Wales, the heartland of rugby league in Australia, drew some criticism. Only one of the 13 confirmed tournament venues was in New South Wales (Sydney Football Stadium) and it is only hosting two group-stage fixtures, both featuring Lebanon. This was due to the refusal of the New South Wales Government to bid for hosting rights. Despite the so-called 'Sydney Cup snub', the RLWC organisers backed their decision and the venues they were using.[46]
In the buildup to the Samoa vs. Tonga game in Hamilton, controversy occurred after fans from both countries were caught having brawls in South Auckland. At least 6 people were arrested from the brawls resulting in a massive security increase for the game. Both teams, celebrities, and police urged fans to calm down.[47] Following the results of the controversial incident, a Tongan Advisory Council member lashed out at organisers, saying that this tournament is poorly organised compared to the 2011 Rugby Union World Cup, mentioning that Rugby Union World Cup organisers engaged with community groups 18 months beforehand, whereas this tournament was "scrambled around".[48]
After Scotland's 68-point thrashing to New Zealand in Christchurch, captain Danny Brough, Sam Brooks, and Jonathan Walker were sent home for violating code of conduct after being all deemed too 'intoxicated' for their team's flight to Cairns for Scotland's next game against Samoa. Italian players James Tedesco and Shannon Wakeman were under investigation by the World Cup integrity unit for a brawl at a Cairns nightclub.[49]
There was criticism on how Samoa and Lebanon qualified for the Quarter-Finals of the World Cup, while Ireland missed out. Samoa played in Pool B where three sides qualify for the finals and only one misses out. Samoa lost to both New Zealand and Tonga, and drew with Scotland. Lebanon was in Pool A which had the same format as Pool B. Lebanon lost to both Australia and England and beat France. Ireland played in Pool C where there are only three teams and the winner is the only team that goes to the finals. Ireland beat both Italy and Wales and only just lost to Papua New Guinea and didn't qualify for the finals. Irish captain Liam Finn, said "I don't know if it's unfair, it probably makes sense, but to me: try and explain that to someone who's not rugby league," , "That's how we judge it. I tell someone 'we didn't go through, we won two games; someone got through by drawing one," and "That's where we should be focused: how do we attract new fans when that's how you're explaining the game to them?" in the press conference after his team's victory over Wales.[50]
Broadcasting
Seven Network was the Australian and worldwide host broadcaster, winning the rights for the event in July 2016, beating the likes of Foxtel and Optus.[51]
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