2018 Emerging Nations World Championship

The 2018 Emerging Nations World Championship (ENWC) was a rugby league tournament held for Tier Two and Tier Three nations, the third edition of the Rugby League Emerging Nations Tournament.

2018 (2018) Emerging Nations World Championship  ()
Number of teams11
Host country Australia
Winner Malta
Matches played22
Attendance8,532 (388 per match)
Points scored1025 (46.59 per match)
Top scorer Ethan Niszczot (60)
Top try scorers Chippie Korostchuk (6)
Justice Utatao (6)
Tournaments
 < 2000

Background

Several nations that had not qualified, or were not eligible to qualify, for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup planned to contest an Emerging Nations tournament in Sydney in 2017 alongside the World Cup. However this tournament did not get support from the Rugby League International Federation, and did not go ahead.[1]

On 29 March 2017, the Rugby League International Federation announced that Australia will be host the tournament in 2018.[2] The two-week-long tournament will be held in Western Sydney, New South Wales with games taking place in Windsor, St Marys and Cabramatta.[3]

Teams

Ten teams were already confirmed for the tournament by March 2017[2] with a number of others later also announcing their participation.[4][5][6] 15 teams were expected to compete, though Canada, India, Latvia, and Thailand were not included in the final draw, for unspecified reasons.

NationCoachNotable playersRLIF Rank
(Jul 2018)
 Greece Steve GeorgallisStefanos Bastas, Michael Korkidas, Jordan Meads[7]
26
 Hong Kong Jason Fairleigh[8]–
45
 Hungary Jonathan WilsonStuart Flanagan[9]
21
 Japan Viliami AhosiviGehamat Shibasaki[10]
41
 Malta Peter Cassar &
Aaron McDonald		Tyler Cassel, Jarrod Sammut,[11] Sam Stone[12]
18
 Niue Brendan "Bman" PerenaraZebastian Lucky Luisi, Eddie Paea, Sione Tovo[13]
34
 Philippines Arwin MarcusShane Gray, Payne Haas (),[14] Paul Sheedy[15]
27
 Poland Lee Addison[16][17]Harry Siejka[18]
–
 Solomon Islands John Jewiss & Luke Heckendorf [19]–
42
 Turkey Scott HartasEmre Guler, Aidan Sezer, Jansin Turgut[20]
–
 Vanuatu Lionel Harbin[21]Alehana Mara[22]
36

Four multi-country regional teams will compete in a parallel tournament.[2]

RegionOrganising bodyEligible countries
AfricaAfrica United Rugby League
54 sovereign states of Africa.[23]
 Algeria,  Angola,  Benin,  Botswana,  Burkina Faso,  Burundi,  Cape Verde,  Cameroon,  Central African Republic,  Chad,  Comoros,  Congo,  Cote d'Ivoire,  Djibouti,  DR Congo,  Egypt,  Equatorial Guinea,  Eritrea,  Ethiopia,  Gabon,  Gambia,  Ghana,  Guinea,  Guinea-Bissau,  Kenya,  Lesotho,  Liberia,  Libya,  Madagascar,  Malawi,  Mali,  Mauritania,  Mauritius,  Morocco,  Mozambique,  Namibia,  Niger,  Nigeria,  Rwanda,  São Tomé and Príncipe,  Senegal,  Seychelles,  Sierra Leone,  Somalia,  South Africa,  South Sudan,  Sudan,  Swaziland,  Tanzania,  Togo,  Tunisia,  Uganda,  Zambia, and  Zimbabwe.
Latin AmericaLatin Heat Rugby League
23 sovereign states in the Americas, plus Puerto Rico.[24]
 Argentina,  Belize,  Bolivia,  Brazil,  Chile,  Colombia,  Costa Rica,  Cuba,  Dominican Republic,  Ecuador,  El Salvador,  Guatemala,  Guyana,  Haiti,  Honduras,  Mexico,  Nicaragua,  Panama,  Paraguay,  Peru,  Puerto Rico,  Suriname,  Uruguay, and  Venezuela.
MediterraneanMediterranean Rugby League
South East AsiaASEAN RL Association

Venues
The venues are located in the Western region of the Sydney metropolis.
  • Cabramatta: New Era Stadium, home of the Cabramatta Two Blues, has previously hosted four international fixtures: Philippines vs Serbia (2016), Philippines vs Malta, Lebanon vs Malta, and Malta vs Hungary (all 2017).
  • Kellyville: Kellyville Ridge Reserve, all-weather synthetic pitch previously unused at any level, hosted games on 7 October as Cabramatta was closed due to flooding.[25]
  • St Marys: St Marys Leagues Stadium, home of the St Marys Saints, has previously hosted six international fixtures: Fiji vs Tonga, Samoa vs Cook Islands, Lebanon vs Malta (all 2006), Lebanon vs Malta (2015), Malta vs Hungary, South Africa vs Malta (both 2018). It contains a 520-seat grandstand and has a total capacity of 7,000.[26]
  • Windsor: Windsor Sporting Complex, home of the Windsor Wolves, has not previously hosted an international fixture.

Pool stage
Main article: 2018 Emerging Nations World Championship pool stage

Tournament fixtures were announced on 17 July 2018.[27]

Key to colours in pool tables
Advances to Cup play-offs (1st to 4th places)
Advances to Trophy play-offs (5th to 8th places)
Advances to Bowl play-offs (9th to 11th places)

Pool A

Pool B

Pool C

Play-offs
Main article: 2018 Emerging Nations World Championship play-off stage

Plate

Trophy

Cup

Final positions
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD
1 Malta Cup Winners 43019662+34
2 Niue 43018260+22
3 Greece 42029054+36
4 Hungary 42026677-11
5 Poland Trophy Winners 440017826+152
6 Philippines 41036190-29
7 Turkey 430113377+56
8 Vanuatu 400443127-84
9 Solomon Islands Plate Winners 430115478+76
10 Japan 410360192-132
11 Hong Kong 400462182-120
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References
  1. Mascord, Steve (23 February 2017). "In the world of international rugby league, rebellion is in the air ... again". Theage.com.au. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  2. "Emerging Nations World Cup confirmed for Sydney 2018". Rlif.com. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  3. Pettigrew, Riley (30 March 2017). "RLIF confirms 2018 Emerging Nations World Cup". The Roar. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  4. "Historic Honiara Test match announced". Vanuatuindependent.com. 13 July 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  5. "Japanese Samurais set to take part in second Emerging Nations tournament". asiapacificrl.com. 14 December 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  6. "India set to make their international debut at Emerging Nations World Championship". asiapacificrl.com. 26 December 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  7. Walter, Brad (19 September 2018). "Coaching rivals to team up for Greece". NRL.com. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  8. "Hong Kong confirms coaching squad for Emerging Nations". Asia Pacific RL. 13 August 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  9. "The Hungarian Rugby League Federation has named their squad to play in the Rugby League Emerging Nations World Championship in Sydney". Facebook. Magyar Bulls Ausztrália. 26 September 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  10. "Japan name Shibasaki brothers in squad for Emerging Nations". Asia Pacific RL. 23 August 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  11. "Sammut Declares Emerging Nations Intentions Ahead of Hungary Test". Facebook. Malta Rugby League. 10 February 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  12. "Malta name squad for Emerging Nations World Championship opener". RLENWC.com. 22 September 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  13. "Niue announce squad for Emerging Nations World Cup". RLIF. 27 July 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  14. Walter, Brad (19 May 2018). "Haas can help grow game in Asian community". NRL.com. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  15. 24 September 2018. "Philippines name squad as Emerging Nations quickly approaches". RLENWC.com. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  16. "Polska Rugby XIII pragnie ogłosić, że nowym trenerem drużyny reprezentującej nasz kraj podczas Emerging Nations World Championship w Sydney został ceniony szkoleniowiec - Lee Addison". Twitter (in Polish). Polska Rugby XIII. 10 August 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  17. Greenard, Tom (24 August 2018). "Logan school teacher Lee Addison to coach Poland's national rugby league team". ABC. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  18. "Coach Lee Addison has named his 23 man sqaud (sic)for the Emerging Nations World Cup with 1 more player to be added to the squad". Facebook. Polska XIII Exiles Australia. 23 September 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  19. "Late surge not enough for Solomon Island rugby league team". Radio NZ. 2 October 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  20. "Sezer and Guler named in Turkish train-on squad". RLENWC. 21 August 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  21. "Vanuatu Rugby League primed for Emerging Nations opportunity". Radio NZ. 19 July 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  22. "Interchange Vanuatu Rugby League Name Team for Rugby League Emerging Nations World Championship". Facebook. Vanuatu Rugby League. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  23. "Africa United : About Us". africa-unitedrl.com. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  24. "Latin Heat player trials". QRL.com.au. 14 August 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  25. "BREAKING: Venue change for Sunday's matches". RLENWC.com. 5 October 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  26. "St Marys Leagues Stadimum". AUStadiums. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  27. "Draw Announced for Emerging Nations World Championships". RLIF. 17 July 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
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