League World Cup pushed back, Kangaroos tours to return
The Rugby League World Cup has been postponed for 12 months and Kangaroos tours will return as part of a huge shake-up of the international calendar.
The International Rugby League has released a plan for Test football until 2030, which includes pushing the showpiece RLWC to 2026 after France pulled out as host of the 2025 edition. The tournament will be held in the southern hemisphere, with the women’s version to be staged as a separate event in 2028. That will give the elite women a chance to shine on their own stage.
Other major changes include the scrapping of the World Cup 9s and trimming the number of teams involved in World Cups to maximise competitiveness. From 2026, RLWC competitions will feature 10 men’s, eight women’s and eight wheelchair teams.
The changes were rubber-stamped at an International Rugby League board meeting in Singapore, where powerbrokers gathered to discuss how to grow the game while overcoming France’s withdrawal.
The traditional Ashes clashes between Australia and England will return, including the Kangaroos’ legendary tours of the United Kingdom.
The other focus is providing quality content for the rising Pacific nations, while providing regional and World Cup qualifying tournaments for developing nations.
An announcement on the matches coming up at the end of the current season is yet to be made. However, the plan is to hold two tri-series tournaments: one involving Australia, New Zealand and Samoa, the other featuring PNG, Fiji and the Cook Islands.
Those matches are expected to be formally announced in the next fortnight and the latter could strengthen PNG’s bid for an 18th NRL licence.
The Kangaroos will have to wait until 2026 to defend the World Cup.Credit: Getty
The schedule will finally provide some clarity on the plan to grow the game beyond Australia and New Zealand.
“It is no secret that the Achilles heel for international rugby league for far too long has been the absence of an international calendar,” said IRL chair Troy Grant.
“The ad hoc nature of tournaments and international matches, and the absence of any clarity for nations, players and fans to plan their seasons, is over. The international calendar respects player workloads and importantly also reduces the impact on professional clubs.
“The standards have improved dramatically in recent years regarding player welfare and player workload issues, and they were key considerations in the calendar design.
“After we secure the future of international rugby league, our calendar will help rejuvenate and allow the game to grow globally, recognising the elite in our game and providing pathways for development of the game across all levels.
“The Ashes return, with England men’s and women’s teams to tour Australia in 2025, while international tours are back, with Tonga heading to England in 2023 in an historic start to the new era.”
Powerbrokers hope the ongoing stoush between the NRL and the Rugby League Players’ Association doesn’t disrupt the plans for Tests at the end of the current season. The NRL has shown a commitment to also grow the game by taking the opening matches of its premiership season to Las Vegas in 2024.
“The Commission has a focus on growing the international game, with a strong desire to grow rugby league in the Pacific in particular,” said ARLC chairman Peter V’landys.
“That starts with having an international calendar for at least the next five years.
“Of equal importance is that there is now a strong plan in place to grow the women’s game at international level. This aligns with the growth of the NRLW competition and the growth of the women’s game at grassroots level.”
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