2015 Rugby League European Championship
International rugby league football tournament
2015 (2015 ) Rugby League European Championship ( ) Number of teams 4 Host countries Wales France Scotland Ireland Winner Wales (7th title) Matches played 6 Attendance 15,301 (2,550 per match) Points scored 225 (37.5 per match) Tries scored 41 (6.83 per match) Top scorer Courtney Davies (22)Top try scorer Tony Gigot (4)
The 2015 Rugby League European Championship was an international rugby league football tournament. The tournament took place between 16 October and 7 November in Wales, France, Scotland and Ireland.
Scotland were the defending champions. Four teams competed in the 2015 event; Wales , Scotland , France and Ireland .[ 1] Wales won the European Championship after winning all of their games putting them on top of the table with the maximum points tally of 6.[ 2]
After the tournament's last game there would be no European Championship tournament until the 2018 Championship due to the events occurring such as the 2016 Four Nations , 2017 World Cup qualifying competitions and the 2017 World Cup Finals .
Teams
Squads
France
Head Coach: Richard Agar
On 1 October, Richard Agar named the following 23 players as part of his squad in preparation for the tournament.[ 3]
Ireland
Head Coach: Mark Aston
On 2 October, Mark Aston named the following 22 players as part of his squad in preparation for the tournament.[ 4]
On 6 November, Robbie Mulhern was a late call-up for Mark Aston's team in the lead up to their crucial final match against Wales.[ 5]
Scotland
Head Coach: Steve McCormack
On 30 September, Steve McCormack named the following 29 players as part of his squad in preparation for the tournament.[ 6]
On 7 November, Sam Brooks was called up to play for Steve McCormack's side in the final game of the tournament against France to fill in for injuries.[ 8] Gavin Grant was also called up to play in the team, for the game against France, which became the youngest ever international senior Scottish team to play an international match with an average age of 22.[ 9]
Wales
Head Coach: John Kear
On 16 September, John's first selection move of 2015 was naming his new captain as Lloyd White .[ 10]
On 29 September, John Kear named the following 24 players as part of his squad in preparation for the tournament.[ 11]
On 8 October, James Geurtjens of the Coventry Bears was called up into John Kear's squad.[ 13]
On 12 October, captain Lloyd White withdrew from the team due to a knee injury.[ 14] Craig Kopczak was therefore announced as the new captain.[ 15]
Venues
The games will be played at the following venues in Wales, France, Scotland and Ireland.
Standings
Team
Played
Won
Drew
Lost
For
Ag.
Diff
Points
Wales
3
3
0
0
62
22
+40
6
France
3
2
0
1
69
46
+23
4
Ireland
3
1
0
2
42
83
–41
2
Scotland
3
0
0
3
52
74
–22
0
Fixtures
Note*France vs Wales Round 2 fixture has been moved to the 30th due to France's fixture Archived 26 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine with England on 24 October before England's series against New Zealand.
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Matches details
All times are local : UTC+1 /CET in French venues . UTC+0 /WET in Irish venues . UTC+0 /GMT in Welsh venues . UTC+0 /GMT in Scottish venues .
Wales vs Scotland
The victory for Wales ended their spree of 12 consecutive defeats with their last victory occurring four years ago.
France vs Ireland
Scotland vs Ireland
Wales vs France
With the defeat, France still haven’t won a test in South Wales since 1948.
France vs Scotland
Ireland vs Wales
Attendances
Date
Game
Stadium
Attendance
16 October
Wales 18 – 12 Scotland
Racecourse Ground , Wrexham
1,253
17 October
France 31 – 14 Ireland
Stadium Municipal d'Albi , Albi
4,681
23 October
Scotland 22 – 24 Ireland
Netherdale , Galashiels
1,197
30 October
Wales 14 – 6 France
Cardiff Arms Park , Cardiff
1,028
7 November
France 32 – 18 Scotland
Parc des Sports , Avignon
5,737
7 November
Ireland 4 – 30 Wales
Carlisle Grounds , Bray
1,405
Broadcasting
beIN Sports broadcast both of France's home matches against Ireland and Scotland as well as their away match against Wales.[ 17]
References
Rugby League European Championship
Current teams
Tournaments