Kangaroos still ranked No.1 despite record loss to Kiwis
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The Kangaroos have retained No.1 spot in the IRL World Rankings, despite suffering a record 30-0 loss to the Kiwis in the final of the Pacific Cup.
The Jillaroos are also No.1 after splitting their two Tests against the Kiwi Ferns, winning one apiece, while the Wheelaroos are fourth in the wheelchair IRL World Rankings.
The Kangaroos rose to the top spot after winning last year’s World Cup and Mal Meninga's men beat Toa Samoa in Townsville and New Zealand in Melbourne before suffering their biggest loss in 115 years in the final in Hamilton.
The result sparked criticism of the Australian team and may cost some players their representative careers, while Kiwis captain James Fisher-Harris won the IRL Golden Boot as the best international player.
However, the Kangaroos are still regarded as the best team in the world, with the Kiwis in second post in the IRL World Rankings, ahead of England, who are now No.3 on the back of a 3-0 series win against Tonga.
Soak up the post-match scenes in Waikato
A year after their shock World Cup elimination by Toa Samoa, England have leapfrogged the Pacific nation, who suffering a 50-0 loss to Michael Maguire’s record-breaking New Zealand team and a 38-12 defeat by Australia in October.
Samoa, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, France and Lebanon, who have swapped places, are next, with Cook Islands rounding out the top 10.
Kiwi teammates congratulate James-Fisher Harris on Golden Boot
Cook Islands have climbed into the top 10 at the expense of Serbia, who rose from 15th mid-year but are now 11th after heavy losses to France and Netherlands.
The Dutch have risen from 18th to 12th spot after winning all five of their matches in September and October, while Serbia have climbed eights spots to 20th following a 2-0 series triumph against Greece, who played in last year’s World Cup.
In the women's IRL World Rankings, the Jillaroos remain No.1 while the rise of the PNG Orchids to fourth spot completes a top four of the semi-finalists from last year’s World Cup, who have qualified for RLWC2026.
Tonga has climbed three places to 13th spot after their 28-10 defeat by New Zealand – a respectable loss against a highly rated opponent.
Cook Islands are sixth, ahead of the other three Pacific nations vying for World Cup berths - Tonga, Samoa (20th) and Fiji (21st).
Jillaroos v Kiwi Ferns - Week 3, 2023
Netherlands are 18th after beating Greece in their recent international debut, while Kenya, Nigeria, Jamaica, Ghana and Uganda also feature in the women’s rankings for the first time – taking the number of participating nations to 28.
There has been almost as many sanctioned international matches involving women’s teams in the past two years as there was in the previous seven years.
In the wheelchair IRL World Rankings, England retained No.1 spot from France after last year’s World Cup finalists enjoyed a win apiece in their recent two match series.
PNG Orchids v Cook Islands Moana – Week 2, 2023
IRL Chair Troy Grant said the rankings reflected the volume of internationals activity in 2023, with 64 sanctioned international matches being an unprecedented number outside a World Cup year.
“In a nine-day period alone we had 23 sanctioned international matches, which was wonderful to see,” Grant said.
“We have the Pacific Championships up and running in the Southern Hemisphere, with Papua New Guinea as winners of the Pacific Bowl and New Zealand as winners of the Pacific Cup.
“We also had an historic tour by Tonga to England in the Northern Hemisphere, which was well won by England.
“The Kiwi Ferns upset the Jillaroos for the first since 2016, as well, and in the women’s game, we had 18 senior matches this year compared to 12 non-Rugby League World Cup matches in 2022.
“That is a 50 per cent increase, which demonstrates the growth of the women’s game, with women’s matches in all four IRL regions.
Fiji Bati v PNG Kumuls - Pacific Bowl final, 2023
“We had the first ever women’s games in Africa, for which Nigeria and Ghana will be credited in our sports annals and is a wonderful step forward, and in the women’s Americas Championships Canada enjoyed a convincing victory.
“The on-field activity is what it is all about, ultimately and I have every confidence that the on-field content will only continue to grow, as will the competitiveness and status of international rugby league.”
The IRL World Rankings are determined by the following criteria:
- Teams are awarded ranking points each time they play a sanctioned international fixture.
- Result and margin: The bigger the win, the more points the winning team receives and the fewer points are awarded to the loser.
- Strength of opponent: The higher the ranking of the opponent the greater the weighting of the result.
- Importance of the match: Games in official competition are weighted higher than bi-lateral arranged games. Rugby League World Cup games carry the greatest weighting.
- More recent games are weighted higher than older games and only games since the 2017 World Cup are considered.
- The rankings reward teams who are active and win games.
MEN
England has regained third place in the men’s IRL World Rankings, while Netherlands and Ukraine were rewarded for successful international campaigns.
England v Mate Ma'a Tonga - Game 1
Netherlands have climbed six places from 18th to 12th in the December 2023 rankings on the back of five successive wins in September and October against Norway, Albania, Serbia, Germany and Czech Republic.
Ukraine are among the biggest climbers, rising from 28th to 20th after back-to-back wins against Greece, who played at last year’s World Cup, in October.
Philippines have risen from 33rd to 23rd, while Malta (14th) and Poland (24th) each climbed five spots and USA are up from 37th to 33rd place.
Ukrainian Federation Rugby League president Artur Martyrosian hailed the feats of his players in continuing to keep their nation’s World Cup hopes alive at a time when many of them are affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The power of rugby league.
“It is now very hard times for Ukraine, but it makes us stronger,” Martyrosian said. “We succeeded this year to organise, together with the European Rugby League and Greek Rugby League, a tournament in Athens and we won it.
“For us, it’s a big decision because we twice won against a Greece team which included seven Australian players with an experienced Australian coach, which participated in the last World Cup.
“At that time our team was composed only from Ukrainian players, and we have not had a13-a-side domestic competition for two years because of the war.
“Our plans are ambitious and with the help of Ukrainian heritage players, and English coach Kevin Deighton and Australian coach Dan Beardshaw, we would like to win the European Under19s Championship in 2024 and win RLWCQ2026 for participating in the World Series and World Cup.”
WOMEN
The Jillaroos, Kiwi Ferns, England and Papua New Guinea are the top four, ahead of France, Cook Islands, Canada and Wales, while the growth of the women's game is highlighted by six new nations earning rankings for the first time.
Ghana, Jamaica, Kenya, Netherlands, Nigeria and Uganda all made their international women's debuts in recent months – taking the number of participating nations to 26.
Netherlands are 18th after beating Greece, ahead of Samoa (20th) and Fiji (21st).
Fetu Samoa v Fiji Bulikula - Week 1, 2023
Tonga has climbed three places to 13th spot after their 28-10 defeat by New Zealand – a respectable loss against a highly rated opponent.
United States are the next biggest movers, up to 16th place after playing Jamaica and Canada.
The USA, Canada, Jamaica and Brazil will play next year in Florida for a place in the 2025 World Series, with the seventh-ranked Ravens – as the highest ranked team – expected to meet Jamaica, the lowest ranked nation, and Brazil and the Hawks to play.
The two winners will play in a final to determine the Americas team for the 2025 Series, which will decide the final World Cup spot.
USA Hawks women’s coach Ady Cooney believes it is just the beginning of an upward trajectory for the game in the United States.
“If we can get some funding into the women’s game and we can see them playing on a more regular basis then naturally we should see improvements in scorelines and to close that gap with other nations,” Cooney said.
“We are very ambitious, and our eyes are firmly set on the qualifying process for the next World Cup cycle and beyond that. I don’t think we are too far behind the Canadians after our games in Jamaica.
“I think, particularly in the game against Jamaica, we executed our game very well and showed glimpses of where we can be.
“If we can get several Test matches in place to give them something to work to and get some funding behind us there is nothing stopping us knocking on that door and getting to the top 10 sooner rather than later.”
WHEELCHAIR
England have retained top spot for the first time in back-to-back years after winning last year’s epic World Cup final at Manchester Arena and then overcoming a 43-34 loss to France in Leeds to triumph 34-18 in Marseilles.
It was just the second time England have won in France, a feat only previously achieved in 2019.
England coach Tom Coyd said the No.1 ranking was the result of a commitment to sustained success after a 10-year project of talent development and domestic growth since 2013.
“A drawn series versus France exemplifies how competitive the two countries are, and it will require us to continue to perform at the highest level to retain the top spot,” Coyd said.
“To achieve the second ever victory on French soil with a comparatively much younger team versus France, we are well poised to grow towards the 2026 World Cup."
