UK to host 2013 Rugby League World Cup

[~lee~]

The 2013 Rugby League World Cup will be held in the United Kingdom.

A decision was made at a meeting of the Rugby League International Federation in Singapore to discuss the future of the international calendar.

Australia had been interested in staging the event again after the success of the 2008 tournament.

But it will return to the UK, which last hosted it in 2000, and be delayed by a year to avoid a clash with the 2012 Olympics in London.

Richard Lewis, the deputy chairman of the RLIF and executive chairman of the Rugby Football League, said: "It is a great boost for rugby league in the northern hemisphere to secure the World Cup in 2013.

"I thought that the 2008 tournament was an outstanding success and our goal is to build on that success and to deliver a profitable tournament that further enhances the international prestige of rugby league."

New Zealand ended Australia's long stranglehold on the trophy with a surprise 34-20 victory in the final of the 2008 tournament.

bbc.co.uk

[DIEHARD]

This should be awesome. I'm definitely going. Now that we have World Cups back, I don't want to miss them.

A return to the UK was a must. And it is a different RFL that will host it under Richard Lewis, as opposed to 2000.

I think we have so many fans and venues we can host it at.

Should also prove lucrative.

[DIEHARD]

UK to host 2013 World Cup

The Rugby League International Federation announced today that the next Rugby League World Cup will be held in the United Kingdom in 2013.

The decision was one of many major issues discussed by the International Federation at a two day meeting scheduled to determine the future of the International calendar and to discuss the allocation of funding to develop the International game.

The 2008 Rugby League World Cup, run by the Rugby League International Federation, was an outstanding success by any measure, attracting more than 290,000 fans, 6791 tickets sold through official travel agents and attracting a global television audience of 19.2m people. Importantly the event was a commercial success, raising revenue that will be reinvested by the International Federation to strengthen development and grow participation at all levels.

Event research showed that 85% of respondents watched the Rugby League World Cup on television with 98% of respondents who watched enjoying the matches. 88% of fans identified as passionate supporters believed the Rugby League World Cup was a great competition.

The decision to play the next World Cup in the northern hemisphere was based on a comprehensive business plan, submitted by the Rugby Football League (RFL), detailing plans to host the tournament in the United Kingdom, as part of the UK's 'Golden Decade of Sport'. The decision to play the tournament in 2013 as opposed to 2012 was made to ensure the tournament is played outside an Olympic year in the future.

Deputy Chairman of the International Federation & RFL Chairman, Richard Lewis said, 'It is a great boost for Rugby League in the Northern Hemisphere to secure the World Cup in 2013. I thought that the 2008 tournament was an outstanding success and our goal is to deliver a successful and profitable tournament that further enhances the International prestige of Rugby League.'

Developing more elite International Test matches and growing Rugby League in nations who could deliver World Cup teams into the future was agreed as the basis for future funding grants in order to ensure continued growth for the RLIF's premier event.

Chairman of the RLIF, Colin Love, said 'The RLIF is determined to build a stronger International calendar of matches and the recent announcement of the Pacific Cup is a perfect example of this.

The Pacific Cup will see the Pacific nations; Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Cook Island and Papua New Guinea compete in a two week tournament in Port Moresby in October - November with the winner given the chance to play in the 2010 Four Nations in Australia and New Zealand. It is an exciting and credible concept that will deliver entertaining Rugby League for fans at the ground and on television.?

The on-going development of the European Nations Cup and the need to ensure consistent matches for France, Wales, Scotland & Ireland was also discussed.

When these events are combined with the Four Nations event being held in 2009, 2010 and 2011 it is clear that there is a strong calendar of International Rugby League that will build excitement for the 2013 World Cup.

The RLIF considered the issue of player workload and it was agreed that in every four year cycle, there will be no Four Nations staged in the year prior to a Rugby League World Cup. In these years, a Test match schedule among nations will be developed.

The calendar will see Four Nations played in England in 2009, Australia and New Zealand in 2010, England in 2011 and then in Australia post the 2013 World Cup.

Elite competitions will be complimented with a range of funding grants that were agreed to fund a wide range of projects including grassroots development, elite youth academies, support for administrative staff, coaching accreditation and training courses.

'The RLIF provides funding to more than 30 Rugby League nations and I am excited about the potential for funds raised by last year?s tournament to be carefully allocated to achieve genuine growth in Rugby League participation at all levels from elite to grassroots globally', Love said.

Other issues discussed included player eligibility, international judiciary, maximising international commercial rights (broadcast & sponsorship) and the development of a long term strategic plan for International Rugby League.

http://www.englandrl.co.uk/

[TITAN PETE]

I'm with ya Brad , my dream is to watch the Kangaroos in the UK so i'll start saving now

[GCT_89]

im keen.....but yea, will have to strt saving now..........lol

[DIEHARD]

One of the reasons I fell in love with rugby league was watching Kangaroo tours in the early morning. I would LOVE to follow a Kangaroo tour, especially at a World Cup.

I really want to visit the George Hotel, where rugby league started in 1895!

[~lee~]

Tonights BBC news completely blanked this news. They ran a huge story on England winning the rights to stage the Rugby Union World Cup in 2015 and showed a calender with all the sporting events taking place this decade and they didnt even mention the Rugby League World Cup. It was very dissapointing to watch.


If marketed and advertised well this should be a major success, it will bring in many new fans to sport. The rugby union world cup is staging games across England in stadiums associated with football, this could be a good idea for rugby league to follow as it will allow people who havnt seen a game before to get involved with it too. England need to be stronger than they were in 2008 as it was a pretty pathetic display, performances like that wouldnt help the tournaments success here.

[DIEHARD]

Bloody BBC. Even the national broadcaster is bias against us.

All the more reason for rugby league to expand nationally especially in London.

[DIEHARD]

WALES COULD CO-HOST NEXT RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CUP

The Rugby League International Federation have announced today that the next Rugby League World Cup will be held in the United Kingdom in 2013.

The venues have not yet been decided but the RFL is examining the possibility that some fixtures could be staged in Wales, which successfully hosted games in the 1995 and 2000 tournaments.

In 1995, three matches were held in the Principality - Wales v France and France v Western Samoa at Ninian Park in Cardiff followed by Wales v Western Samoa at the Vetch Field in Swansea which attracted a sell-out crowd of 15,385.

Four matches were staged in Wales in 2000 with the hosts taking on Cook Islands in Wrexham, Lebanon in Llanelli while a double header at the Millennium Stadium - Lebanon v Cook Islands and Wales v New Zealand attracted 17,612 fans.

Wales Rugby League's executive chairman Mark Rowley hopes that Wales does get to shine again.

"We're pleased to hear that we're being considered again to host matches in the Rugby League World Cup," he said.

"It was a big success here both in 1995 and 2000 and we've making tremendous progress on and field since then. We're winning international tournaments with alarming regularity right now with our Students being British Champions and our under 18s being British and European Champions.

"Also, our "A" side are one match away from their seventh Home Nations Title in the last eight years. All these players now have the chance to progress to Super League with the Crusaders and then to full internationals, and a World Cup in your own country is something for every youngster to aim for."

Deputy Chairman of the International Federation and RFL Chairman, Richard Lewis said: "It is a great boost for Rugby League in the Northern Hemisphere to secure the World Cup in 2013. I thought that the 2008 tournament was an outstanding success and our goal is to deliver a successful and profitable tournament that further enhances the International prestige of Rugby League."

The decision to play the next World Cup in the northern hemisphere was based on a comprehensive business plan, submitted by the Rugby Football League (RFL), detailing plans to host the tournament in the United Kingdom, as part of the UK's 'Golden Decade of Sport'. The decision to play the tournament in 2013 as opposed to 2012 was made to ensure the tournament is played outside an Olympic year in the future.

Wales next matches are in this year's European Nations Cup when they travel to Serbia on October 24th, before taking on Ireland at Pontypridd's Sardis Road on Sunday November 1st with Finals day being held at Bridgend's Brewery Field a week later.

In 2010, the winners of this tournament will face Australia, England and New Zealand in the 2011 Four Nations and Rowley is excited about this prospect.

"We've a lot to aim for now," he said. "Right now we're looking forward to this year's European Cup which obviously we're aiming to win especially with Final being held in Wales but next year is something even bigger. We want to test ourselves on the big stage again, that's why we're determined to qualify for the 2011 Four Nations then the 2013 World Cup. Exciting times are ahead."

The new international calendar discussed by the RLIF will see Four Nations played in England in 2009, Australia and New Zealand in 2010 and England in 2011, then in Australia post the 2013 World Cup. No Four Nations will be held in 2012 as it is likely that this will be the year when World Cup qualifiers are staged.

Source: http://www.crusadersrl.com

[Adelaide Titan]

They want everything there! Will be interesting anyway i rekon, lets see how the Poms can go on their home turf. I say the Kangaroos will still be too good!

[DIEHARD]

Yea mate I want the Cup back!

French should be strong, it's likely a 2nd French Super League team will enter in 2012, Toulouse.

Teams will expand to at least 12.

[~lee~]

World Cup set for 12-team format

The 2013 Rugby League World Cup, to be staged in Britain, is set to be contested by 12 teams, an increase on last year's 10-team event in Australia.

The Rugby Football League believes a bigger tournament will improve the potential for a profitable event.

"The plan has been based on 12 teams, so it is a racing certainty there'll be 12," said RFL chairman Richard Lewis.

In addition, the tournament will be based primarily in rugby league heartlands to maximise attendances.

The tournament will be the first Rugby League World Cup to be held in the UK since 2000, which was hampered by bad weather, attracted poor attendances and left the RFL in debt.

But last autumn's event in Australia was a success, attracting combined crowds of 290,000 and a global television audience of 19.2m, making it the most widely broadcast event in the sport's history.

"We know we can stage a very successful World Cup, we put together what we believe was a very compelling argument," said Lewis.

"A lot of preparation has gone into it and we believe the proposition is extremely robust."

In 2000, World Cup organisers attempted to broaden the appeal of rugby league to union heartlands, staging games in places such as Gloucester and south Wales but the experiment failed.

"Unashamedly we will be using the heartland and we will be using our clubs," said Lewis.

"We want to make sure we give the rugby league fans week-in, week-out the chance to buy tickets at competitive rates.

"We will try as much as possible to have full stadiums, that is an important part of how the World Cup looks."

Stadia which are regularly used to host rugby league for special events such as Wembley, the Millennium Stadium, Murrayfield and Old Trafford will be considered as venues, while the Olympic Stadium is another possibility.

There is also a chance of some games being played in France.

Additionally, the RFL is looking into the possibility of staging double-headers at some venues to increase crowd interest.

Lewis also anticipates plenty of interest from television companies keen to screen the event.

"I think it will be very competitive for the TV companies," he said. "A short, sharp competition like the World Cup is very attractive to terrestrial TV."

Plans will be made over the next 12 months before an official launch some time in 2010 with a likely staging date of October and November in 2013.

[DIEHARD]

The 2013 World Cup could certainly handle a 12 team competition. For the 2008 World Cup two nations who I thought really belonged there failed to qualify.

Lebanon and Wales. Wales will be much much stronger in 2013 with the Celtix Crusaders in Super League.

I'm also a fan of the double header. It would increase crowds and atmosphere. It would lend a hand to all the rugby league fans trying to ake in as many games as possible.

During the 2008 World Cup I found it hard to get to all the games I wanted to. Due to scheduling clashes, distance and cost.