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 scorer Jamayne Isaako (52 - men)
Tiana Penitani (20 - women)
Top try scorer Jamayne Isaako (7 - men)
Tiana Penitani (5 - women)
Tournaments
2023 > 

Rule variations

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
See also: 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s squads

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 been 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
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
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

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

Venue
Sydney
Bankwest Stadium
Capacity: 30,000

Men's tournament
Main article: 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s – Men's tournament

Pool stage

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
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 2019Australia 25 – 12 New Zealand
18 October 2019Papua New Guinea 27 – 10 United States
19 October 2019New Zealand 18 – 17 Papua New Guinea
19 October 2019Australia 41 – 11 United States
19 October 2019New Zealand 46 – 0 United States
19 October 2019Australia 26 – 0 Papua New Guinea

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

Pool C
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 2019Tonga Invitational 7 – 30 Cook Islands
18 October 2019Samoa 32 – 17 Fiji
19 October 2019Samoa 17 – 4 Cook Islands
19 October 2019Tonga Invitational 21 – 17 Fiji
19 October 2019Fiji 10 – 12 Cook Islands
19 October 2019Tonga Invitational 20 – 24 Samoa

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

Semi-finals
New Zealand vs England
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')
Bankwest Stadium, Sydney
Referee: Ben Cummins (Australia)
Australia vs Samoa
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
Bankwest Stadium, Sydney
Referee: Chris Kendall (England)

Final: Australia v New Zealand
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')
Bankwest Stadium, Sydney
Referee: Chris Kendall (England)

Women's tournament
Main article: 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s – Women's tournament

Pool stage

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 2019England 25 – 4 Papua New Guinea
18 October 2019Australia 22 – 8 New Zealand
19 October 2019New Zealand 24 – 12 Papua New Guinea
19 October 2019Australia 42 – 4 England
19 October 2019Australia 30 – 6 Papua New Guinea
19 October 2019New Zealand 33 – 4 England

Final: Australia v New Zealand
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
Bankwest Stadium, Sydney
Referee: Henry Perenara (New Zealand)

Try scorers

Men's
7
5
4
3
2
1

Women's
5
4
3
  • Jules Newman
2
1

Controversy

On 19 October 2019, Lebanon's Jacob Kiraz and Jordan Samrani and Papua New Guinea women's Sera Koroi and Joyce Waula were disqualified 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, stipulates that you must be 18 to play. 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.[9][10]

Media coverage
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
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gollark: We could add triple backticks to make Discord unable to embed the name too.
gollark: ```/\$$^π*'"><[]{})@`[NUL BYTE]%+```or something.
gollark: We should make an esolang with a name with so many special characters that no wiki or website will be able to name it.
gollark: I remember one time I made an int subclass supporting all operations but horribly mucked up in exciting ways.

References
  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. https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/tonga-rugby-league-board-suspended-by-rlif-20190926-p52vc9.html
  4. https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/fifita-fires-back-at-suspended-tonga-board-over-stupid-power-struggle/news-story/510bff4e2fc7c3aefd2586baf8575caf
  5. "Pools confirmed for RLIF Nines World Cup". RLIF.com. 22 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  6. "Old rivals to kick-off World Nines tournament". NRL.com. 4 August 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  7. "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. https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/10/19/cedars-fall-short-of-semis-after-having-two-players-disqualified/
  10. https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/world-nines-world-9s-lebanon-points-stripped-vs-france-wales-fight-video-rugby-league-nrl-2019/news-story/3786f9dd0dd1eefb768d6b279d3ef853
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