Upcoming tournament 2026 Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup | |
| Sport | Rugby league |
|---|---|
| Instituted | 2008 |
| Region | International (IRL) |
| Holders | England (2nd Title) (2021) |
| Most titles | England, France (2 titles) |
| Related competition | |
| Tournaments |
|---|
The Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup is an international wheelchair rugby league tournament contested by the top national teams. The tournament was first held in Australia as part of the 2008 Festival of World Cups and was upgraded to a centrepiece event in 2021.
The inaugural tournament took place as part of the 2008 Festival of World Cups and was held in Sydney, Australia. The four teams participating were Australia, England, France and a Barbarians V Pacific Islands team. [1] [2] The fourth team were a replacement for New Zealand who withdrew before the start of the competition. [3] England were the first winners, defeating hosts Australia 44–12 in the final. [2]
In 2013 the tournament was held in Gillingham, England. The six teams that took part were Australia, England, France, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. [4] France won the competition, defeating England 42–40 in the final. [5] [6] [a] Wales won 16–12 against Australia in the third-place play-off [9] and Ireland defeated Scotland 36–14 to finish fifth. [4]
France hosted the 2017 tournament and won 38–34 in the final against England to retain the title. [10] Seven teams took part in the tournament with the semi-finalists from 2013 placed in Group A and Italy, Spain and Scotland in Group B. [11] Australia, who had intended to host the tournament, [12] finished third after defeating newcomers Italy 58–45. [13] Spain, who were also making their first appearance at the world cup, lost 45–66 to Wales in the fifth-place play-off match. [14]
The 2021 tournament (played in 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic) saw the United States compete at the world cup for the first time. [15] Norway, who were also due to make their debut, withdrew from the competition in February 2022. [16] It was the first time that the wheelchair tournament was played simultaneously with the men's and women's competitions. [17] The hosts England defeated France 28–24 in the final in front of a wheelchair rugby league world record crowd of 4,526 at Manchester Central. [18]
The tournament has been played using different formats depending on the number of teams participating. In 2013 the six teams were divided into two groups. Each team played the two teams in their group and one team from the other group. This determined the qualifiers for the semi-finals which were followed by the play-off matches and final. [19] In 2017 the seven teams were also divided into two groups, but this time Group A contained the four top ranked teams and Group B was made up of the lower ranked teams. The top two from Group A qualified for the semi-finals and were joined by the winners of play-offs between the top two Group B teams and the remaining Group A sides. [11] The 2021 tournament had two groups of four teams with the top two from each progressing to the semi-finals. [15] [20]
In November 2019 a new trophy for the wheelchair tournament was unveiled. It shares a similar overall appearance to the men's and women's trophies and features imagery of wheelchair athletes in action. [17]
| Ed. | Year | Winner | Score | Runner-up | No. of teams |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  2008 |  England | 44–12 | Australia | 4 |
| 2 | 2013 |  France | 42–40 | England | 6 |
| 3 | 2017 | France (2) | 38–34 | England | 7 |
| 4 | 2022 [b] | England (2) | 28–24 | France | 8 |
| Team | 2008 | 2013 | 2017 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 2nd | 4th | 3rd | SF |
| Barbarians | 4th | – | – | – |
| England | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 1st |
| France | 3rd | 1st | 1st | 2nd |
 Ireland | – | 5th | – | G |
 Italy | – | – | 4th | – |
 New Zealand | W | – | – | – |
 Norway | – | – | – | W |
 Scotland | – | 6th | 7th | G |
 Spain | – | – | 6th | G |
 United States | – | – | – | G |
 Wales | – | 3rd | 5th | SF |
| Refs | [1] [3] [21] | [4] [9] [10] | [22] | [16] [23] [24] |
The Women's Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league tournament, contested by the women's national teams of the International Rugby League (IRL). The competition has been held since 2000 and was incorporated into the Festival of World Cups in 2008 until 2017 when it became a centrepiece event along with the men's competition. Under the current format, eight teams are separated into two groups of four with the top two in each group qualifying for the semi-finals.
The England women's national Rugby League team represents England in Women's Rugby League. They are administered by the Rugby Football League.
The 2021 Men's Rugby League World Cup was the 16th Rugby League World Cup, and one of three major tournaments of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. The tournament was held in England from 15 October 2022 to 19 November 2022. It was originally due to be held between 23 October 2021 and 27 November 2021, but the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent withdrawals of Australia and New Zealand caused the tournament to be postponed. 16 teams competed in the tournament, an increase of two from the previous two tournaments and the first to feature 16 teams since the 2000 Rugby League World Cup.
The 2017 Festival of World Cups was a series of rugby league world cups that were held in Sydney, Australia during July 2017. As part of the festival, there was University World Cup and a Defence Force World Cup. It was originally intended that the event would also include a Police World Cup and the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup. In May 2016, the World Cup organising committee raised concerns over financial support for the festival and in November 2016, it was announced that the 2017 Wheelchair World Cup would be held in France.
The New Zealand physical disability national rugby league team represent New Zealand in international physical disability rugby league competitions throughout Asia-Pacific and the World. At the 2018 Rugby League Commonwealth Championship the team finished second in the Physical Disability tournament after a draw in the final against Australia. In August 2018 a squad was named to take part in a best of three series against Australia as part of the 2018 Emerging Nations World Championship in Sydney.
The 2021 Women's Rugby League World Cup was the sixth staging of the Women's Rugby League World Cup, and was one of three major tournaments part of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. The tournament was held in England from 1 November to 19 November 2022. Originally planned for 2021, it was delayed a year along with the men's and wheelchair tournaments due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament featured eight teams, an increase of two from the previous tournament.
The 2021 Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup was the fourth staging of the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup, and was one of three major tournaments part of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. The tournament was held in England from 3 November to 18 November 2022. It was originally planned to be held in November 2021 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in England. It was the first occasion on which the wheelchair rugby league competition took place concurrently with the men's and women's tournaments. The competition was also the first time that participants in the wheelchair tournament received the same participation fees as players in the other competitions and the first time that prize money was awarded.
The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league tournament currently played every four years. The first tournament was held in 1954, hosted by France who had pushed for such a tournament to be approved. Since the first edition, 14 others have been held at sporadic intervals.
The England national wheelchair rugby league team represents England in wheelchair rugby league. The team have played in all four World Cup tournaments, winning both the inaugural competition in 2008 and the 2021 edition on home soil, and being runners up in both 2013 and 2017. They also won the 2015 European Rugby League Championship.
The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022.
The 2021 Physical Disability Rugby League World Cup, also known as the 2021 PDRL World Cup, was the first world cup for physical disability rugby league. The tournament was held from 23 October to 30 October 2022 in Warrington, England, alongside the main tournaments of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. The tournament was originally planned as part of the 2021 Festival of World Cups, which was due to take place in the summer of 2021, but was rescheduled following the postponement of the festival. England defeated New Zealand 42–10 in the final to become the first world champions. Third place went to Wales who defeated Australia 32–18 in a play-off.
The 2021 Rugby League World Cup final was the rugby league match to determine the winner of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup, played between Australia and Samoa on 19 November 2022 at Old Trafford in Manchester, England.
The final of the 2021 Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup was one of three finals of the integrated 2021 Rugby League World Cup. It was played at Manchester Central Convention Complex in Manchester on 18 November 2022, the day before the men's and women's finals.
The Scotland national wheelchair rugby league team represents Scotland in wheelchair rugby league. They have competed at the World Cup, the European Championships and several tournaments within the British Isles, such as the Celtic Cup and Four Nations competitions.
The Wales national wheelchair rugby league team represents Wales in wheelchair rugby league. They have competed at the World Cup, the European Championships and several tournaments within the British Isles, such as the Celtic Cup and Four Nations competitions.
The Ireland national wheelchair rugby league team represents Ireland in wheelchair rugby league. They have competed at the World Cup, the European Championships, the Celtic Cup and Four Nations competitions.
The United States national wheelchair rugby league team represents the United States in wheelchair rugby league. The team, nicknamed the Hawks, is controlled by USA Rugby League, the governing body for rugby league in the United States. Formed in 2022, the team made its debut at the 2021 Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup finishing third in their group with one victory and two defeats.
The 2017 Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup was the third staging of the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup. The tournament was held from 20 July to 28 July 2017 and was originally planned to be held in Sydney, Australia, as part of the 2017 Festival of World Cups but was relocated to France. The tournament was won by France who defeated England 38–34 in the final in Perpignan to retain the title.
The Australia national wheelchair rugby league team represent Australia in wheelchair rugby league. The team have played at all four World Cup tournaments and were finalists in the inaugural competition in 2008.
The France national wheelchair rugby league team represents France in wheelchair rugby league. The team have played in all four World Cup tournaments, finishing third in the inaugural competition in 2008 tournament before finishing as championns in both 2013 and 2017. They finished as runners-up in 2021 and also finished runners-up in the 2015 European Rugby League Championship.
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