Welcome to InternationalRL.com, your number one news source for everything happening in International Rugby League.
And so we meet again… If you think the 2013 Rugby League World Cup final is just another game, you are very much mistaken. This game is carrying a legacy for many of the greatest players in a generation. This game will dictate whether or not history will look back on certain players and judge…
After a month long tournament, we arrive at the second of 3 games that really matter, the final. The dream rematch from the 2008 World Cup final that saw the Kiwis upset the heavily favoured home side has eventuated and people across the Tasman are gearing up to stay up to watch the top 2…
In a big blow for the New Zealand team, Frank Pritchard has been left out of the Kiwi’s World Cup final squad due to injury. Pritchard has been battling a hamstring injury for the last couple of weeks. He was absent in the Kiwi’s semi final win over England. His size, mobility and ball playing…
Billy Slater is all but assured of a return from injury in the World Cup final against New Zealand after Tim Sheens named him in the Kangaroo’s 19 man squad. Slater has been working hard to overcome a knee injury in recent weeks. His addition to the squad means that it is all but certain…
New Zealand skipper, Kieran Foran, admits he will have to be at his best if he is to outfox Manly half-back partner, Daly Cherry-Evans, in Saturday’s World Cup final against Australia. The pair recently guided the Sea Eagles to the NRL Grand Final but they will be on opposite sides in the clash at Old…
It is a replay of the 2008 World Cup final that was famously won by New Zealand. The Australian side will go into the game as favourites but with a lot of pressure knowing that for many of them, this is their last opportunity to win a World Cup. I have said for a long…
The Rugby League International Federation Awards are pretty much like any other international Rugby League awards that are handed out. They leave you scratching your head and wondering who actually votes on these things and do they know anything about the game. The 2013 edition is no different. Keep in mind that these awards take…
From South Africa to Wembley Stadium, England’s 2013 Rugby League World Cup buildup and results were interesting to say the least. The Rugby Football League invested a lot of time, money and effort to make sure that England got the best preparation for the 2013 World Cup. No team that has come before had a…
The Australian Kangaroo’s have beaten Fiji 64-0 to book a place in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup final. It is hard to write about such a one sided match. Australia were obviously brilliant in attack while their defense once again saw them shut an opponent out. Australia have not conceded a try since their…
The World Champion New Zealand Kiwi’s will contest their third straight Rugby League World Cup final after a thrilling 20-18 win over England at Wembley Stadium. England played well in the first half while New Zealand just didn’t look themselves. The loss of Frank Pritchard to injury was a big blow to the New Zealand…
Continuity is a very important thing in sport. The ability to settle on a lineup and make the fewest changes you can possibly get away with has seen many sporting teams over the years beat more talented rivals who chopped and changed their lineup for what ever reason. In the 2013 Rugby League World Cup…
The World Club Challenge will be played in Australia for the first time in well over a decade when the Sydney Roosters host Wigan at the Sydney Football Stadium on the 22nd of February next year. The last time the World Club Challenge (In its current format) was held in Australia was in 1994 when…
When Sydney Daily Telegraph writer Phil Rothfield decided to list 62 reasons why the 2013 Rugby League World Cup was terrible, I defended him. I honestly believe that the sport can react too quickly to criticism. I think sometimes Rugby League needs to realise that it can do things better. That there is room for…
2011 started out with a plan to start the Rebellion in the USARL and leverage that to jump start youth development of the sport in the USA. As the only way to make sure rugby league is stable in the USA is to have youth playing to sport in Schools as there is not a…
Australia has beaten the United States 62-0 to book a place in the World Cup semi finals. Brett Morris and Jarryd Hayne both scored 4 tries each, but the big news was that Billy Slater left the field early in the second half after aggravating a knee injury he has carried all season. Slater will…
Daly Cherry-Evans looks like has has secured the bench utility spot in Australia’s World Cup team with Robbie Farah dropped from the squad named to take on the United States this weekend. While Australia named a 20 man squad, Farah was still unable to find a place in the side. Cherry-Evans form has been sensational…
New Zealand has smashed Papua New Guinea 56-10 in Leeds. The Kiwi’s started in ominous fashion by scoring a try after just 2 minutes. They backed that up with a second try after just 6 minutes. I could go on and tell you about every try scoring play the New Zealand team had in the…
Scotland has come back from an 8-0 halftime deficit to beat the United States by a scoreline of 22-8. The first half was a real arm wrestle with the United States getting the better of things through a better completion rate. Their first two tries really put the pressure on Scotland and it caused them…
Daly Cherry-Evans has retained his place in the Australian side ahead of the Kangaroos clash with the Wolfhounds in Ireland. Cherry-Evans has been named alongside Cooper Cronk in the halves in after an outstanding performance in the Kangaroos big win over Fiji last weekend. It looks as though Tim Sheens is once again looking to…
Tonga has defeated the Cook Islands 22-16 in a very good game that has big implications for the World Cup quarter finals. Tonga was supposed to put a big score on the Cook Islands. For most of the first half however the Cook Islands were giving Tonga all sorts of problems. Isaac John was sensational…
Every so often something funny happens on the footy field that you just can’t let pass by without re-visiting. One of those occurrences happened in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup match between the Cook Islands and Samoa. With both teams needing a win to keep their chances alive, the Cook Islands were playing well….
Samoa has beaten Papua New Guinea 38-4 in a dominant performance over a very poor PNG outfit. The first half of this match couldn’t have been any more one sided. A try in the first few minutes by Samoa was a sign of things to come. Papua New Guinea turned the ball over way too…
Greg Inglis has warned Australia to avoid ‘having their pants pulled down’ by Fiji when the two teams meet at Langtree Park on Saturday. The Kangaroos are hot favourites in the betting odds to beat Fiji and lift the World Cup trophy at the end of November. They got their tournament up and running with…
Scotland has defeated Tonga 26-24 in what is easily the biggest upset of the World Cup so far. Tonga exploded out of the blocks and an easy try early in the match seemed to confirm what most people thought, that this game would be very one sided. However Tonga played some very lazy football in…
In an extremely surprising announcement, there will be an official 2013 Rugby League World Cup video game released on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. The game will be released on November 21st and is available for pre orders NOW! This news has come out of the blue. I’ve not heard a single thing about this…
Akuila Uate has scored a hat trick as Fiji ran away with a 32-14 in over Ireland in Rochdale. Fiji looked a class above Ireland and were physically dominant throughout the contest. Even as Fiji lost a player to the sin bin in the heavy rain, Ireland simply couldn’t work their way back into the…
Forget the score line, forget that one team won and the other lost. Forget the implications for the World Cup tournament….because none of it matters. New Zealand’s 42-24 win over Samoa was simply a fantastic game of Rugby League that had just about everything you could want in a sporting contest! New Zealand started the…
Sometimes even a player like Sonny Bill Williams gets it terribly wrong! Sonny Bill Williams is normally a man that can do no wrong but in New Zealands 42-24 win over Samoa in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup SBW had his very own LOL moment! After breaking the Samoan line and looking like he…
France has defeated Papua New Guinea 9-8 in a close match that PNG will feel they should have won. The French opened the scoring after getting good field position off the back of a penalty. The field position allowed them to catch PNG off guard a little as they scored the first try of the…
Italy has won its first ever game in a World Cup with an impressive 32-16 victory over Wales in Cardiff. Italy looked really sharp and played very well considering the ground was a mess by the time both teams walked out onto the field. Anthony Laffranchi played great up front, Josh Mantellato was always dangerous…