Rugby League World Cup 2021

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Thread for the 2021 World Cup

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Rugby League World Cup 2021: Bristol to bid to host matches

Bristol wants to host matches in the 2021 Rugby League World Cup at Ashton Gate, BBC Radio Bristol reports.

England was chosen to host the tournament in 2016, ahead of a rival bid from the United States and Canada.

Bristol City Council want to submit a bid to the Rugby Football League by July, with the RFL set to reveal their chosen cities later this year.

"We want to attract more world-class events to the city," a Bristol City Council statement said.

"With the cycling grand prix happening later this year and the announcement of the Cricket World Cup coming to the city the year after, there is plenty to get excited about over the next two years."

No professional rugby league teams play in Bristol, but that could change after 2019, with the Gloucestershire All Golds and Oxford planning to merge.

The two League One clubs' proposal to form a new team has been accepted by the RFL, but they still need further financial backing.

The city of Bristol hosted a match during the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, with Bristol Rovers FC's Memorial Stadium selling out for the USA's 32-20 win over the Cook Islands.

This time, it is Ashton Gate - the joint home of Championship football club Bristol City and the city's Premiership-bound rugby union side - which is being put forward.

Phil Cole, chairman of the Bristol Sonics, the city's only current senior rugby league team, said: "It's fantastic news. We're delighted to see Bristol bidding again.

"We're hopefully going to be involved with the legacy side of things. There'll be a campaign over the next few years to increase participation and get more women involved in rugby league too.

"It was a great success in 2013, when it was a wonderful evening at the Memorial Stadium. We've got a great bid, but it's just a case of whether they'll go for more games in the north."

BBC Radio Bristol understands that the City Council and Ashton Gate Limited - who are working on the bid collaboratively - are hoping to secure a package that includes a quarter-final.

The RFL received £25m from central government to support its bid to stage the tournament, and plans to host 80% of games in Lancashire and Yorkshire.

http://www.bbc.co.uk

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2021 Rugby League World Cup: Venues to be named live on the BBC
https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-league

The 16 teams in the 2021 finals equals the largest field in the tournament's 65-year history
Rugby League World Cup 2021

Dates: 23 October-27 November 2021 in England

The venues for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup, which is being hosted in England, will be announced at 09:00 GMT on Tuesday, 29 January.

The announcement will be streamed on the BBC Sport website, app and on Connected TV and will be presented by Helen Skelton and Kevin Sinfield.

Traditional rugby league strongholds such as Leeds, Greater Manchester, York and Sheffield are among the bidders.

London, Liverpool, Newcastle and Preston are also under consideration.

Participating teams
England (hosts), Australia (holders), Fiji, France, Jamaica, Lebanon, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, Wales, plus four other European teams (from Greece, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Norway, Russia and Scotland) and one other qualifier from Cook Islands, South Africa and USA.

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World Cup draw at Buckingham Palace in a few hours.

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World Cup organisers step up hunt for Australian broadcast deal
http://www.nrl.com

World Cup organisers believe the entry of streaming services like Stan and Amazon Prime into the sports market could benefit the international game as they prepare to open negotiations for the Australian and New Zealand broadcast rights.

With the BBC having committed to televise all 61 matches of the men’s, women’s and wheelchair World Cups in Britain, RLWC2021 officials are now focused on securing broadcast partners in Australia and New Zealand for the end-of-year tournament.

RLWC2021 broadcast lead Russell Scott travelled to Australia early last year for preliminary talks about the World Cup broadcast rights, which were previously held by IMG and on-sold to Channel 7 for the 2013 and 2017 tournaments.

Since Scott’s trip, which coincided with the 2020 Australian Open tennis grand slam in Melbourne, Stan – owned by Nine – and Amazon Prime have begun buying Australian and New Zealand sporting content.

Nine, the NRL’s free-to-air broadcaster, launched Stan Sports in November after negotiating a three-year deal with Rugby Australia, while Amazon Prime purchased the rights to stream all New Zealand cricket matches into India until 2025, beginning with the recent series against Pakistan.

While there are concerns about the viability of the World Cup, officials are optimistic the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, coupled with the fact the opening match isn’t until October 23, will enable the tournament to be played and are stepping up negotiations with broadcasters.

"We have appointed an agency that is going to work with us now to sell the rights into Australia and New Zealand first [before other countries], and that will happen fairly quickly," Dutton said.

"We are going to go to market in the next month but we have received an awful lot of interest already.

"Obviously there are some new players in the market and it’s very interesting to see what Amazon Prime are currently doing, particularly in cricket, so we are very optimistic about broadcast rights in Australia and New Zealand."

With Brazil in the eight-team women's tournament and Jamaica and Greece having qualified for the men's World Cup for the first time, officials are aiming to reach the biggest global audience in the game's history.

"The BBC will cover every minute of all 61 games, which if you compare that to anything that has gone before in rugby league, is definitely transformative," Dutton said.

"Now if we can get the right exposure in Australia and New Zealand – and then the rest of the world – this then becomes a really interesting commercial proposition that can hopefully be monetised in the future by the IRL.

"Australia and New Zealand are obviously incredibly important, that is our primary focus and that will happen fairly quickly.

"Then we have an ability to look to the rest of the world and with the new nations that are playing, like Brazil and Jamaica, all of a sudden the global offering becomes more interesting and more important."

The Kangaroos are scheduled to play their first match against Fiji at Hull on October 23 - just hours after England host Samoa in the World Cup opener at St James' Park in Newcastle.

The other teams in Australia's pool are Scotland and Italy, while the Kiwis have been drawn to play Lebanon, Jamaica and Ireland before the quarter-finals.

The Jillaroos play their first match against the Cook Islands in York on November 10, with France and New Zealand also in their pool.

The men's and women's tournaments finals will conclude with a double-header at Manchester's Old Trafford on November 27, with the final of the wheelchair tournament - featuring Australia - to be held on November 26 in Liverpool.

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“The Board of International Rugby League (IRL) met on Thursday (25 February) and unanimously reiterated that the priority focus is the successful delivery of RLWC2021 in October and November 2021 in England.

The Board and RLWC2021 recognise the challenges ahead, but are encouraged by the recent update from the UK Government and the credibility and detailed planning already undertaken by the RLWC2021 team.

The Board will continue to support RLWC2021’s substantial work with all participating nations to ensure that every possible action is taken to deliver the biggest and best ever RLWC on schedule.”

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Only one, that's right just one, NZ Warrior in the whole NZ squad ... a strong team for sure but it's a sad state of affairs that the Warriors don't truly represent the NZ rugby league community. Yes, you could argue that Covid has had a major influence on their recruitment but I'm surprised that this opportunity hasn't been offered to a couple of development players. I add that even Australia has included players like Nanai and Cotter over more established players.

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Only one, that's right just one, NZ Warrior in the whole NZ squad ...

Struth. That is devastating. Warriors really need to dig themselves out of this. A Kiwis win would help.

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https://twitter.com/England_RL/statu...00617056980992

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Should be a great World Cup Final with Samoa.

Samoa fans going nuts around the globe. In Samoa, Australia, New Zealand and even in the USA which parades organised for Utah, Vegas and San Franciso.

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Going to be many great games. Especially with Tonga, Samoa and a strong Kiwis side.

Plenty of other teams to enjoy too such as Lebanon and PNG and France.

I'm going to be in heaven! I really really wish I could go to the UK for a World Cup!

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Fortunately my cable tv has BBC1 and 2 so will be able to watch every game … bye bye sleeping.

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Underwhelming doesn't even cut it so far in the mens RLWC, with some games not even raising to park levels. I am a strong believer in the need for the international game but there needs to be a lot more effort put into some of the "minnows". I also don't think rewarding every NRL player with Man of the Match awards is a good incentive for the weaker nations. Ok so the NRL is the big comp but the efforts of the semi-pro players deserve recognition, probably more so considering their commitment and journeys.

Observations so far: Radley MOM was a poor read considering the unheralded work done by Willams for example; Poms not as good as they are being touted; Samoa showed that coconut footy can't beat a good old fashioned game plan; Milford cannot direct a team around and nor can Luai who is a flat track bully; Australia needs Cleary and RCG; how did Scotland qualify; Fiji will improve as the half's work it out; Kiwi can't win it without Hughes; France is a long way off but has some talent and the Greeks can hold their heads up; congrats to Italy and Ireland for having a good crack too; Jamaica like the others at their level need real exposure to regular competition ... I am looking forward to Tonga/PNG where I expect both teams to be fairdinkum.

Comments: (1) The Hammer has got to be the most over-rated player although he is challenged by Milford. (2) Why isn't there an African team of some sort? Some of those tough gangsta-types from Somalia and Eritrea who can run like hell on the smell of an oily rag seem perfect for a backline while a few of those giant who-ers from the Congo and Nigeria etc should be able to do some serious damage up front. I know stereotyping isn't pc but neither is stacking nations with Cup players if there isn't any link to the home countries' development pathway. (3) Guys like Georgallis should be based in Greece and building pathways.

Suggestion: players who show talent should be scholarshipped into NRL/SL clubs development programs AND why can't an NRL/SL club adopt an emerging nation? Imagine the 17 NRL clubs spending a part of their pre-season training and showcasing our sport across the planet along with their SL cousins.

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Kumuls were their own worst enemy but played courageously. Tonga missed Taumalolo but went pretty well too.