Jezybee
Reassuringly Expensive
Rugby League World Cup 2026
Kicks off today with Australia vs New Zealand at 10:05.
Not available on free to air TV in the UK, which seems an error in terms of growing the game. Being played in Auz, NZ and PNG largely explains this as unlikely to attract large UK TV audience. Can be watched on Premier Sports; me neither.
The 10 team format is somewhat forced. The justification is that it keeps the quality of the competition high. The reality is that the NRL teams / players and Australia wouldn't agree to a protracted end-of-season tournament with several low / no interest, loss making games.
Where it gets a little complicated. The teams in Group B will play the three teams in Group C and vice versa. They will not play the teams in their own group. Results from these matches feed into a combined Group B and Group C table with the two-highest-ranked teams going through to the semi-finals.
The team that finishes top of that combined table will face the runner-up in Group A in the last four. The team that comes second will play the winner of Group A.
Not available on free to air TV in the UK, which seems an error in terms of growing the game. Being played in Auz, NZ and PNG largely explains this as unlikely to attract large UK TV audience. Can be watched on Premier Sports; me neither.
The 10 team format is somewhat forced. The justification is that it keeps the quality of the competition high. The reality is that the NRL teams / players and Australia wouldn't agree to a protracted end-of-season tournament with several low / no interest, loss making games.
- Group A: Australia, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Fiji
- Group B: England, Lebanon, Samoa
- Group C: France, Papua New Guinea, Tonga
Where it gets a little complicated. The teams in Group B will play the three teams in Group C and vice versa. They will not play the teams in their own group. Results from these matches feed into a combined Group B and Group C table with the two-highest-ranked teams going through to the semi-finals.
The team that finishes top of that combined table will face the runner-up in Group A in the last four. The team that comes second will play the winner of Group A.
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