2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s

The 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s was the first staging of the Rugby League World Cup 9s tournament and took place on 18 and 19 October 2019 at Sydney's Bankwest Stadium. The tournament featured teams from 12 International Rugby League member countries, 4 of which also fielded teams in the women's tournament. In the men's final, Australia defeated New Zealand, while in the women's final, New Zealand defeated Australia.

2019 (2019) World Cup 9s  ()
Number of teams12 (men), 4 (women)
Host country Australia
Winner Australia (1st title)

Matches played28
Points scored973 (34.75 per match)
Tries scored184 (6.57 per match)
Top scorerNew Zealand Jamayne Isaako (52 - men)
Australia Tiana Penitani (20 - women)
Top try scorerNew Zealand Jamayne Isaako (7 - men)
Australia Tiana Penitani (5 - women)
2023 > 

Rule variations

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The standard rules of rugby league applied but with the following variations:[1]

  • games are nine-a-side with unlimited interchanges in the 13-strong squad
  • each half is nine minutes with a 2-minute half time
  • the tackle count for the team in possession is five rather than six
  • any player sin-binned is off the field for only three minutes
  • the 40/20 rule is supplemented by a 20/40 rule i.e. a kick from behind the player's own 20m line which after bouncing goes into touch past the opponent's 40m line will result in the kicking team retaining possession with a tap-restart
  • Bonus zone tries - tries score four points as normal but the value of the try will be increased to five for a try scored in the area between the goalposts
  • all conversions are drop kicks rather than place kicks and a 25-second shot clock will apply
  • a game which goes to extra time will be decided by golden try extra time

Teams

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The competing teams were hand picked, and the selections were announced on 22 April 2019.[2]

On 27 September 2019, the Tonga National Rugby League were suspended by the International Rugby League (IRL), pending an investigation into their board. Tonga were represented at the tournament by a "Tonga Invitatonal" team.[3][4]

Men's

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Team Captain Coach IRL rank
  Australia Wade Graham   Mal Meninga 1
  Cook Islands Alex Glenn    Tony Iro 28
  England James Graham   Wayne Bennett 2
  Fiji Kevin Naiqama   Brandon Costin 5
  France Jason Baitieri   Aurélien Cologni 6
  Lebanon Reece Robinson   Rick Stone 9
  New Zealand Shaun Johnson   Michael Maguire 3
  Papua New Guinea Rhyse Martin   Michael Marum 10
  Samoa Joseph Leilua   Matt Parish 7
  Tonga Invitational Jason Taumalolo    David Tangata-Toa 4
  United States Mark Offerdahl   Sean Rutgerson 15
  Wales Elliot Kear   John Kear 11

Women's

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Team Captain Coach IRL rank
  Australia Ali Brigginshaw   Brad Donald 1
  England Emily Rudge   Craig Richards 3
  New Zealand Honey Hireme   Justin Morgan 2
  Papua New Guinea Janet Johns   Bagelo Solien 6

Match Officials

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The NRL named the following 18 NRL match officials to handle the 28 matches.

Venue

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Sydney
Bankwest Stadium
Capacity: 30,000
 

Men's tournament

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Pool stage

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The pools were announced on 22 July 2019.[5] The draw was announced on 4 August 2019.[6]

Pool A Pool B Pool C
  Australia
  New Zealand
  Papua New Guinea
  United States
  England
  France
  Lebanon
  Wales
  Tonga Invitational
  Cook Islands
  Fiji
  Western Samoa

Pool A

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Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   Australia 3 3 0 0 92 23 +69 6 Advance to knockout stages
2   New Zealand 3 2 0 1 76 42 +34 4
3   Papua New Guinea 3 1 0 2 44 54 −10 2
4   United States 3 0 0 3 21 114 −93 0
Updated to match(es) played on 19 October 2019. Source: [7]
18 October 2019 Australia   25 – 12   New Zealand
18 October 2019 Papua New Guinea   27 – 10   United States
19 October 2019 New Zealand   18 – 17   Papua New Guinea
19 October 2019 Australia   41 – 11   United States
19 October 2019 New Zealand   46 – 0   United States
19 October 2019 Australia   26 – 0   Papua New Guinea

Pool B

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Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   England 3 2 0 1 76 24 +52 4 Advance to knockout stages
2   Lebanon 3 2 0 1 42 46 −4 4
3   France 3 1 0 2 35 56 −21 2
4   Wales 3 1 0 2 35 62 −27 2
Updated to match(es) played on 19 October 2019. Source: [7]

Lebanon were stripped of their win over France due to fielding an ineligible player.

18 October 2019 France   8 – 12   Lebanon
18 October 2019 England   25 – 4   Wales
19 October 2019 France   23 – 6   Wales
19 October 2019 England   13 – 16   Lebanon
19 October 2019 Lebanon   14 – 25   Wales
19 October 2019 England   38 – 4   France

Pool C

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Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   Samoa 3 3 0 0 73 41 +32 6 Advance to knockout stages
2   Cook Islands 3 2 0 1 46 34 +12 4
3   Tonga Invitational 3 1 0 2 48 71 −23 2
4   Fiji 3 0 0 3 44 65 −21 0
Updated to match(es) played on 19 October 2019. Source: [7]
18 October 2019 Tonga Invitational   7 – 30   Cook Islands
18 October 2019 Samoa   32 – 17   Fiji
19 October 2019 Samoa   17 – 4   Cook Islands
19 October 2019 Tonga Invitational   21 – 17   Fiji
19 October 2019 Fiji   10 – 12   Cook Islands
19 October 2019 Tonga Invitational   20 – 24   Samoa

Knockout stage

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Semi-finals Final
      
A1   Australia 25
C1   Samoa 8
  Australia 24
  New Zealand 10
A2   New Zealand 22
B1   England 6

Semi-finals

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New Zealand vs England
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19 October 2019
18:55 AEST (UTC+10)
New Zealand   22 – 6   England
Tries:
Isaako (5', 14') 2
Maumalo (2') 1
Smith (10') 1
Goals:
Isaako 3/4
(2', 10', 14)
1st: 10 – 0
2nd: 12 – 6
Tries:
1 (12') McGillvary
Goals:
1/1 Austin
(12')

Australia vs Samoa
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19 October 2019
19:20 AEST (UTC+10)
Australia   25 – 8   Samoa
Tries:
Ponga (1') 1
Addo-Carr (7') 1
Brimson (14') 1
Frizell (16') 1
Goals:
Moses 2/2
(15', 17')
Cherry-Evans 1/2
(1')
1st: 11 – 4
2nd: 14 – 4
Tries:
2 (5', 11') Seve
Goals:
0/2 Lafai

Final: Australia v New Zealand

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19 October 2019
21:00 AEST (UTC+10)
Australia   24 – 10   New Zealand
Tries:
Moses (5', 7', 17') 3
Feldt (14') 1
Goals:
Moses 3/4
(5', 7', 17')
1st: 13 – 10
2nd: 11 – 0
Tries:
1 (2') Smith
1 (6') Isaako
Goals:
1/2 Isaako
(6')

Women's tournament

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Pool stage

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The draw was announced on 4 August 2019.[6]

Pool A
  Australia
  England
  New Zealand
  Papua New Guinea
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   Australia 3 3 0 0 94 18 +76 6 Advance to Final
2   New Zealand 3 2 0 1 65 38 +27 4
3   England 3 1 0 2 33 79 −46 2
4   Papua New Guinea 3 0 0 3 22 79 −57 0
Updated to match(es) played on 18 October 2019. Source: [8]
18 October 2019 England   25 – 4   Papua New Guinea
18 October 2019 Australia   22 – 8   New Zealand
19 October 2019 New Zealand   24 – 12   Papua New Guinea
19 October 2019 Australia   42 – 4   England
19 October 2019 Australia   30 – 6   Papua New Guinea
19 October 2019 New Zealand   33 – 4   England

Final: Australia v New Zealand

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19 October 2019
19:45 AEST (UTC+10)
Australia   15 – 17   New Zealand
Tries:
Penitani (1') 1
Apps (5') 1
McGregor (11') 1
Goals:
Dibb 1/2
(11')
Tungai 0/1
1st: 8 – 7
2nd: 7 – 10
Tries:
1 (3') McGregor
1 (10') Newman
1 (13') Maynard
Goals:
2/2 McGregor
(3', 13')
0/1 Nicholls-Pualau

Try scorers

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Men's

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7
5
4
3
2
1

Women's

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5
4
3
2
1

Controversy

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On 19 October 2019, Lebanon's Jacob Kiraz and Jordan Samrani and Papua New Guinea women's players Sera Koroi and Joyce Waula were all suspended from the tournament for being under the age of 18.

While the International Rugby League allows players 16 or older to play in Test matches, the National Rugby League (who ran the tournament) rules require that players must be 18 or older.

Kiraz, who would not turn 18 until November 2019, was the only one of the four to play a game, coming off the bench in Lebanon's 12–8 win over France. Lebanon were stripped of the two competition points earned for their win as a result.[9][10]

Media coverage

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Country or region Broadcaster Broadcasting
  Australia Fox Sports All 28 matches live (via Fox League or streamed on Kayo Sports)
NRL Live Pass All 28 matches live streamed
  Brazil Watch NRL All 28 matches live streamed
  Canada Watch NRL All 28 matches live streamed
  China Watch NRL All 28 matches live streamed
  Cook Islands Digicel All 28 matches live
OVOPlay All 28 matches live streamed
  Germany Watch NRL All 28 matches live streamed
  Fiji Digicel All 28 matches live
Fiji FBC All 28 matches live streamed
OVOPlay All 28 matches live streamed
  France OVOPlay All 28 matches live streamed
Watch NRL All 28 matches live streamed
  Ireland Sky Sports All 28 matches live
Watch NRL All 28 matches live streamed
  Japan Watch NRL All 28 matches live streamed
  Lebanon OVOPlay All 28 matches live streamed
Watch NRL All 28 matches live streamed
  New Zealand Sky (New Zealand) All 28 matches live
  Papua New Guinea Digicel All 28 matches live
OVOPlay All 28 matches live streamed
  Samoa Digicel All 28 matches live
OVOPlay All 28 matches live streamed
  South Africa Watch NRL All 28 matches live streamed
  Tonga Digicel All 28 matches live
OVOPlay All 28 matches live streamed
  United Kingdom Sky Sports All 28 matches live
Watch NRL All 28 matches live streamed
  United States OVOPlay All 28 matches live streamed
Watch NRL All 28 matches live streamed

References

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  1. ^ "Downer World Cup Nines: Guide to international rugby league's newest tournament". Sky Sports. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  2. ^ Hazlewood, Scott (22 April 2019). "Bankwest bonanza: Teams announced for World Cup Nines". NRL.com. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  3. ^ "RLIF suspends Tonga board with Folau return all but over". 26 September 2019.
  4. ^ "Andrew Fifita fires back at suspended Tonga board over 'stupid' power struggle". 15 October 2019.
  5. ^ "Pools confirmed for RLIF Nines World Cup". RLIF.com. 22 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  6. ^ a b "Old rivals to kick-off World Nines tournament". NRL.com. 4 August 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  7. ^ a b c "Pools confirmed for RLIF Nines World Cup". RLIF.com. 22 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  8. ^ "Pools confirmed for RLIF Nines World Cup". RLIF.com. 22 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  9. ^ "Cedars stripped of win after having two players disqualified". 19 October 2019.
  10. ^ "Nines farce: Lebanon's points stripped for fielding ineligible player". 19 October 2019.