IRL World Rankings

The IRL World Rankings are the ranking system for men's national teams in the sport of rugby league football. The teams of the member nations of the International Rugby League, rugby league football's world governing body, are ranked based on their game results with the most successful teams being ranked highest. A point system is used, with points being awarded based on the results of IRL-recognized international matches. Under the existing system, rankings are based on a team's performance over the last three years, with more recent results and more significant matches being more heavily weighted to help reflect the current competitive state of a team.

IRL World Rankings
Official Men's Rankings as of November 2019
Rank	Change*	Team	Pts%
1	2	New Zealand
2	1	Australia
3	1	England
4		Tonga
5		Fiji
6	4	Papua New Guinea
7		Samoa
8	2	France
9	1	Scotland
10	1	Lebanon
11	5	Greece
12		Ireland
13	1	Italy
14	3	Wales
15	4	Serbia
16	1	Malta
17	1	Norway
18	3	United States
19	4	Poland
20	7	Jamaica
21	1	Hungary
22	3	Czech Republic
23	5	Cook Islands
24	7	Turkey
25	1	Netherlands
26	4	Spain
27	6	Canada
28		Nigeria
29	2	Solomon Islands
30	10	Sweden
31	4	Germany
32	1	Chile
33		Ghana
34	16	Morocco
35	3	Vanuatu
36		South Africa
37	8	Russia
38		Cameroon
39	2	Ukraine
40	1	Colombia
41	4	Brazil
42		Belgium
43	4	Denmark
44	4	Bulgaria
45	4	Latvia
*Change from July 2019

Ranking system

The IRL World Rankings are calculated based on an average of points accumulated by each nation over a three-year cycle. Under the structure, matches deemed of higher importance such as World Cup games, Four Nations and other major tournament finals draw more points than mid-season Tests and other ‘Internationals’. For each match that a nation participates they are given a base level of points. This base level is affected upon the type of match (World Cup, Major Tournament, Test Match and International) and the status of the opponent.

IRL World Rankings
Official Women's Rankings as of November 2019
Rank	Change*	Team	Pts%
1		Australia
2		New Zealand
3		England
4	2	Papua New Guinea
5	1	Canada
6	1	France
7	2	Cook Islands
8		Italy
9		Serbia
10		Fiji
11		Turkey
12		Samoa
13		Brazil
14	6	Lebanon
15		South Korea
*Change from July 2019

Bonus points are given for teams that reach certain milestones deemed of significant international importance including reaching a tournament final or qualifying for an event such as a World Cup.

From the total number of points that a nation will receive these points are then averaged to help give a more accurate view of the performance of a nation over the three-year cycle.

Nations which have played fewer than 5 matches over a three-year cycle will be penalised under the current point structure.

Use of the rankings

The rankings are used by International Rugby League to view the progression and ability of the national rugby league teams.

The data is currently used in things as seeding for tournaments such as the European Cup, Mediterranean Cup and Pacific Cup.

Current calculation method

Match status

A weighting system has been implemented by the IRL to give more points to teams if they gain a victory over a major team in a major tournament, with friendlies ranked with considerably fewer points than any World Cup finals match or the final of Cups such as the European, Mediterranean and Pacific Cups.

Opponent strength

The IRL has organized the ranking so that a win against a very highly ranked opponent is a considerably greater achievement than a win against a low-rated opponent, so the strength of the opposing team is a factor.

Assessment period

All matches played over the last thirty-six months or three years are included in the calculation of the rankings, but there is a weighting system implemented to put more emphasis on recent results.

Historical rankings

Team	Jun 2013[1]	Dec 2013[2]	Aug 2014[3]	Nov 2014[4]	May 2015	Dec 2015[5]	Jun 2016[6]	Oct 2016[7]	Nov 2016[8]	May 2017[9]	Oct 2017[10]	Dec 2017[11]
Australia	1	1	1	1	2 ( 1)	2	2	2	1 ( 1)	1	1	1
New Zealand	2	2	2	2	1 ( 1)	1	1	1	2 ( 1)	2	2	2
England	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3
Tonga	10	13 ( 3)	13	16 ( 3)	15 ( 1)	16 ( 1)	15 ( 1)	13 ( 2)	14 ( 1)	11 ( 3)	11	4 ( 7)
Fiji	7	5 ( 2)	5	6 ( 1)	6	7 ( 1)	7	6 ( 1)	7 ( 1)	8 ( 1)	7 ( 1)	5 ( 2)
Samoa	8	8	7 ( 1)	4 ( 3)	4	4	4	4	5 ( 1)	5	5	6 ( 1)
Scotland	11	11	11	8 ( 3)	8	9 ( 1)	9	9	4 ( 5)	4	4	7 ( 3)
France	4	4	4	5 ( 1)	5	5	5	5	6 ( 1)	6	6	8 ( 2)
Lebanon	16	20 ( 4)	21 ( 1)	21	20 ( 1)	20	20	21 ( 1)	21	21	18 ( 3)	9 ( 9)
Papua New Guinea	6	7 ( 1)	8 ( 1)	11 ( 3)	11	14 ( 3)	11 ( 3)	12 ( 1)	15 ( 3)	15	16 ( 1)	10 ( 6)
Ireland	9	9	10 ( 1)	7 ( 3)	7	6 ( 1)	6	7 ( 1)	8 ( 1)	7 ( 1)	8 ( 1)	11 ( 3)
Wales	5	6 ( 1)	6	9 ( 3)	9	8 ( 1)	8	8	9 ( 1)	9	9	12 ( 3)
Italy	13	12 ( 1)	12	12	12	12	13 ( 1)	15 ( 2)	13 ( 2)	14 ( 1)	12 ( 2)	13 ( 1)
United States	12	10 ( 2)	9 ( 1)	10 ( 1)	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	14 ( 4)
Jamaica	22	23 ( 1)	24 ( 1)	27 ( 3)	29 ( 2)	27 ( 2)	27	16 ( 11)	17 ( 1)	17	13 ( 4)	15 ( 2)
Serbia	15	17 ( 2)	17	13 ( 4)	14 ( 1)	11 ( 3)	12 ( 1)	11 ( 1)	11	12 ( 1)	14 ( 2)	16 ( 2)
Canada	19	16 ( 3)	16	14 ( 2)	13 ( 1)	13	14 ( 1)	14	12 ( 2)	13 ( 1)	15 ( 2)	17 ( 2)
Malta	21	22 ( 1)	23 ( 1)	24 ( 1)	23 ( 1)	18 ( 5)	18	20 ( 2)	20	19 ( 1)	17 ( 2)	18 ( 1)
Russia	14	15 ( 1)	14 ( 1)	15 ( 1)	16 ( 1)	15 ( 1)	16 ( 1)	18 ( 2)	16 ( 2)	16	19 ( 3)	19
Belgium	31	29 ( 2)	22 ( 5)	22	18 ( 4)	17 ( 1)	17	17	18 ( 1)	18	20 ( 2)	20
Spain	–	–	28 ()	28	26 ( 2)	21 ( 5)	21	19 ( 2)	19	20 ( 1)	21 ( 1)	21
Norway	20	19 ( 1)	19	19	21 ( 2)	26 ( 5)	26	26	26	26	22 ( 4)	22
Greece	–	28 ()	26 ( 2)	23 ( 3)	24 ( 1)	24	24	28 ( 4)	28	28	23 ( 5)	23
Philippines	–	–	–	–	35 ()	–	32 ()	32	33 ( 1)	34 ( 1)	34	24 ( 10)
Ukraine	23	21 ( 2)	20 ( 1)	20	22 ( 2)	23 ( 1)	23	23	22 ( 1)	22	25 ( 3)	25
Czech Republic	–	26 ()	30 ( 4)	29 ( 1)	30 ( 1)	30	29 ( 1)	25 ( 4)	24 ( 1)	25 ( 1)	26 ( 1)	26
Netherlands	29	24 ( 5)	25 ( 1)	25	25	28 ( 3)	30 ( 2)	30	30	30	27 ( 3)	27
Germany	18	18	18	18	19 ( 1)	19	22 ( 3)	24 ( 2)	23 ( 1)	23	28 ( 5)	28
Hungary	–	31 ()	33 ( 2)	32 ( 1)	33 ( 1)	33	34 ( 1)	38 ( 4)	38	33 ( 5)	29 ( 4)	29
Cook Islands	17	14 ( 3)	15 ( 1)	17 ( 2)	17	22 ( 5)	19 ( 3)	22 ( 3)	25 ( 3)	24 ( 1)	24	30 ( 6)
Sweden	28	30 ( 2)	32 ( 2)	30 ( 2)	31 ( 1)	29 ( 2)	28 ( 1)	29 ( 1)	29	29	30 ( 1)	31 ( 1)
Chile	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	34 ()	34	36 ( 2)	37 ( 1)	32 ( 5)
Niue	–	–	–	–	32 ()	32	33 ( 1)	33	32 ( 1)	31 ( 1)	31	33 ( 2)
Denmark	26	27 ( 1)	27	26 ( 1)	27 ( 1)	25 ( 2)	25	27 ( 2)	27	27	32 ( 5)	34 ( 2)
South Africa	24	25 ( 1)	29 ( 4)	31 ( 2)	28 ( 3)	31 ( 3)	31	31	31	32 ( 1)	33 ( 1)	35 ( 2)
Vanuatu	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	35 ()	35	37 ( 2)	35 ( 2)	36 ( 1)
El Salvador	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	39 ()	39	38 ( 1)	39 ( 1)	37 ( 2)
Thailand	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	35 ()	36 ( 1)	38 ( 2)
Argentina	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	39 ()
Colombia	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	40 ()
Japan	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	41 ()
Solomon Islands	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	37 ()	37	40 ( 3)	38 ( 2)	42 ( 4)
Brazil	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	43 ()
Uruguay	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	41 ()	40 ( 1)	44 ( 4)
Hong Kong	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	45 ()
Bulgaria	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	41 ()	46 ( 5)
Latvia	25	–	31 ()	33 ( 2)	34 ( 1)	34	35 ( 1)	36 ( 1)	36	39 ( 3)	42 ( 3)	47 ( 5)
Morocco	30	–	34 ()	34	36 ( 2)	35 ( 1)	36 ( 1)	40 ( 4)	40	42 ( 2)	43 ( 1)	48 ( 5)
Estonia	27	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–

Best and Worst

Team	Best		Worst
	Rank	Year(s)	Rank	Year(s)
Argentina	39	2017	39	2017
Australia	1	2012–15, 2016–	2	2015–16, 2019
Belgium	17	2015–16	31	2013
Brazil	41	2019	43	2017
Bulgaria	41	2017	46	2017
Cameroon	38	2019	38	2019
Canada	12	2016	27	2019
Chile	32	2016, 2019	37	2017
Colombia	40	2017, 2019	40	2017, 2019
Cook Islands	14	2013	30	2017
Czech Republic	22	2019	30	2014, 2015
Denmark	25	2015–16	43	2019
El Salvador	37	2017	39	2016, 2017
England	2	2018	3	2012–17, 2019
France	4	2013–14	8	2017, 2019
Fiji	5	2013–14, 2017, 2019	8	2017
Germany	18	2012–14	31	2019
Ghana	33	2019	33	2019
Greece	11	2019	28	2013, 2016–17
Hong Kong	45	2017	45	2017
Hungary	21	2019	38	2016
Ireland	6	2015–16	12	2019
Italy	12	2013–15, 2017	15	2016
Jamaica	13	2017	29	2015
Japan	41	2017	41	2017
Latvia	25	2013	47	2017
Lebanon	9	2017	21	2014, 2016–17
Malta	16	2019	24	2014
Morocco	30	2013	48	2017
Netherlands	24	2013	30	2016–17
New Zealand	1	2015–16, 2019	2	2012–15, 2016–17
Nigeria	28	2019	28	2019
Niue	31	2017	33	2016, 2017
Norway	17	2019	26	2015–17
Papua New Guinea	4	2012	16	2017
Philippines	24	2017	35	2015
Russia	14	2013, 2014	37	2019
Samoa	4	2015–16	8	2012–13
Scotland	4	2016–17	11	2013–14
Serbia	11	2015–16	17	2012, 2013–14
Solomon Islands	29	2019	42	2017
South Africa	24	2012–13	36	2019
Spain	19	2016	28	2014
Sweden	28	2012, 2016	32	2014
Thailand	35	2017	38	2017
Tonga	4	2017, 2019	16	2014, 2015
Ukraine	20	2014	39	2019
United States	9	2014	18	2019
Uruguay	40	2017	44	2017
Vanuatu	35	2016-17, 2019	37	2017
Wales	5	2013	14	2019

See also

• Rugby League International Federation
• RLIF Awards

References

1. "Australia strengthen grip on rankings". Rugby League International Federation. 6 June 2013. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
2. "Australia strengthen grip as world No 1". Rugby League International Federation. 2 December 2013. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
3. "RLIF announce latest World Rankings". Rugby League International Federation. 1 August 2014.
4. "Latest World Rankings Announced". Rugby League International Federation. 30 November 2014.
5. "Latest world rankings released". Rugby League International Federation. 17 December 2015.
6. "PNG make the biggest move in new World Rankings". Rugby League International Federation. 1 June 2016.
7. "Australia and England can both overtake New Zealand in World Rankings". Rugby League International Federation. 28 October 2016.
8. "Australia reclaim world No.1 ranking". NRL.com. 23 November 2016.
9. "Australia to enter RLWC2017 as World Number 1". Rugby League International Federation. 15 May 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
10. "World Rankings released ahead of RLWC2017". Rugby League International Federation. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
11. "Latest World Rankings announced". Rugby League International Federation. 8 December 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.