You have to hand it to the Rugby League International Federation, they can come up with some nutty ideas that seemingly have no connection to what we see on the field.
Take the newly released “Rugby League World Ranking” which have been put out this evening.
New Zealand has moved past Australia into top spot despite the fact that the Kangaroos smashed the Kiwi’s 28-4 in Wollongong in October.
England remains in the top three despite the fact the Great Britain team lost to Tonga, New Zealand two weeks in a row, and then Papua New Guinea.
Tonga, big movers, right? Wrong! Tonga remain locked in 4th place despite beating both Great Britain and Australia.
Fiji didn’t lose a single game in 2019, with a massive win over Lebanon, another big victory over Samoa, and a close fought win over Papua New Guinea. This saw them not move at all, staying locked in 5th position.
Some of the other incredibly stupid things on this list…
Jamaica, who managed to qualify for the 2021 World Cup over the United States and Canada, somehow managed to fall 7 places.
The Cook Islands, who smashed South Africa earlier this season and took the last place at the 2021 World Cup with a win over the United States in Florida, only find themselves in 23rd place!
Serbia, who twice found themselves in danger of being beaten by the biggest scoreline in international Rugby League history, who failed to qualify for the 2021 World Cup, somehow managed to rise 4 whole positions!
I think its is fair to say that how ever they put these rankings together, they are completely wrong!
Here is the RLIF’s ridiculous “World Rankings” list:
1. New Zealand +3
2. Australia -1
3. England – 1
4. Tonga =
5. Fiji =
6. PNG +4
7. Samoa =
8. France -2
9. Scotland -1
10. Lebanon -1
11. Greece =5
12. Ireland =
13. Italy +1
14. Wales -3
15. Serbia +4
16. Malta +1
17. Norway +1
18. USA -3
19. Poland +4
20. Jamaica -7
21. Hungary -1
22. Czech Republic –
23. Cook Islands +5
24. Turkey +7
25. Netherlands -1
26. Spain +4
27. Canada -6
28. Nigeria New
29. Solomon Islands -2
30. Sweden +10
31. Germany +4
32. Chile +
33. Ghana New
34. Morocco +16
35. Vanuatu -3
36. South Africa =
37. Russia – 8
38. Cameroon New
39. Ukraine -2
40. Colombia +1
41. Brazil +4
42. Belgium =
43. Denmark +4
44. Bulgaria +4
45. Latvia +4
