2017 Rugby League World Cup qualification – Europe
The 2017 Rugby League World Cup Europe qualification was a rugby league tournament held in October and November 2016 to decide the three European qualifiers for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup .
It consisted of a round-robin tournament which saw Wales and Ireland qualify by winning their respective tables. Italy claimed the final qualifying spot in the World Cup after winning a second place play-off against Russia on 4 November 2016.
Overview
On 3 October 2014, the 2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifying competition was announced.[ 1] 2013 Rugby League World Cup ; England , France and Scotland .
Ten teams were able to qualify for the qualification tournament, with the first being eliminated when Spain defeated Latvia on 9 May 2015.[ 2]
Wales and Ireland were granted entry to the qualification tournament. Both teams already had a chance to qualify for the World Cup during the 2014 European Cup , but failed to do so.[ 3] European Championship C tournament, and the other three were allocated to the top three teams from the European Championship B .
Italy , Russia and Serbia finished as the top three teams in the European Championship B, with Ukraine being eliminated.[ 4]
Spain finished as the top team in the European Championship C, with Greece and Malta eliminated.
Teams
Qualified teams for final phase:
Squads
Ireland
The final Ireland 22-man squad as of 9 October 2016 is as follows:[ 5]
Italy
The final Italy 22-man squad as of 8 October 2016 is as follows:[ 6]
* Denotes a rugby union club.
Russia
The final Russia 22-man squad as of 6 September 2016 is as follows:[ 7]
Club Team
Players
CSKA Moscow Kirill Kosharin
Dinamo Viacheslav Eremin , Andrey Kuznetsov
Ivanovo White Sharks Ivan Troitskii
RC Lokomotiv Moscow Vadim Buryak , Leonid Kalinin , Maxim Tsinkovich
Nara Petr Botnarash , Mikhail Burlutskii , Sergey Gaponov , Anatoly Grigorev , Sergei Konstantinov , Aleksandr Lysokon , Maksim Suchkov , Denis Tiulenev , Vladimir Vlasyuk , Nikolay Zagoskin
Moscow Fili Anton Iunisov , Iustin Petrushka
Moscow Storm Dmitry Bratko , Igor Chuprin , Vadim Fedchuk
* Denotes a rugby union club.
Serbia
The final 22-man squad as of 5 October 2016 is as follows:[ 8]
Spain
The final 22-man squad as of 4 October 2016 is as follows:[ 9]
* Denotes a rugby union club.
Wales
The final Wales 22-man squad as of 7 October 2016 is as follows:[ 10]
On October 14, Dai Evans was brought into the squad to replace Calvin Wellington who withdrew due to a hamstring injury.[ 11]
On October 21, 19-year old Ben Morris was called up to the squad to play in a mid-qualifying campaign test match against Jamaica.[ 12]
On October 29, Danny Ansell was called up to the squad with a possibility of playing in the last qualifying game against Italy.[ 13]
* Sam Hopkins was called into the team for the final qualifier against Italy after Jacob Emmitt withdrew due to a hamstring injury.[ 14]
Club Team
Players
Gloucestershire All Golds Morgan Evans , Steve Parry , Lewis Reece
Hunslet Hawks Danny Ansell
Leigh Centurions Sam Hopkins
London Broncos Elliot Kear , Rhys Williams
Mackay Cutters Andrew Gay
Oldham R.L.F.C. Joe Burke
Salford Red Devils Philip Joseph , Craig Kopczak
Sheffield Eagles Matty Fozard
Souths Logan Magpies Ollie Olds
South Wales Ironmen Courtney Davies , Dai Evans , Connor Farrer , Ian Newbury , Christiaan Roets
St. Helens Regan Grace , Ben Morris
Swinton Lions * Jacob Emmitt , Rhodri Lloyd
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Anthony Walker
Widnes Vikings Gil Dudson , Lloyd White ,
Final Tables
Group A
Group B
Fixtures
Russia vs Spain
Wales vs Serbia
Serbia vs Italy
Spain vs Ireland
Italy vs Wales
Ireland vs Russia
Second place play-off
The final qualifying place was determined by a single knockout match held between the two group runners-up on 4 November 2016.
References
^ QUALIFICATION DETAILS FOR 2017 RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CUP ANNOUNCED Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine , rlef.eu.com , 3 August 2014^ Spain defeat Latvia to take first step towards RLWC2017 , rlif.com , 10 May 2015^ Extra incentive for Wales & Ireland this Euro Championship , rlif.com , 13 October 2014^ Serbia claim a historic first-ever victory over Russia - 2017 World Cup qualifying Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine , rlef.eu.com , 16 May 2015^ IRELAND NAME SQUAD AFTER TRIAL MATCH Archived 2016-10-10 at the Wayback Machine , rlef.com , 9 October 2016^ ITALY NAME COSMOPOLITAN 22-MAN SQUAD FOR WORLD CUP QUALIFIER [permanent dead link ] rlef.com , 8 October 2016^ RUSSIA NAME NEW LOOK SQUAD FOR WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS Archived 2016-10-09 at the Wayback Machine , rlef.com , 6 October 2016^ THREE DEBUTANTS IN SERBIA 22-MAN SQUAD FOR QUALIFIERS Archived 2016-10-06 at the Wayback Machine , rlef.com , 6 October 2016^ FIVE DEBUTANTS IN SPAIN 22-MAN SQUAD FOR QUALIFIERS Archived 2016-10-18 at the Wayback Machine , rlef.com , 4 October 2016^ WALES CONFIDENT FOR WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS Archived 2016-10-09 at the Wayback Machine , rlef.com , 7 October 2016^ DAI EVANS DRAFTED IN TO WALES' 22-MAN SQUAD , WALES RUGBY LEAGUE , 14 October 2016^ MORRIS HOPING TO FEATURE FOR WALES AFTER CALL-UP , WALES RUGBY LEAGUE , 21 October 2016^ ANSELL READY FOR WALES DEBUT IF CALLED UPON , WALES RUGBY LEAGUE , 28 October 2016^ International dates for Leigh Centurions pair , Leigh Journal , 29 October 2016^ "Russia and Spain will kick-off 2017 RLWC European Qualifiers in Moscow" . Rugby League Planet. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016 .^ "WALES TO TAKE ON SERBIA IN LLANELLI" . walesrugbyleague.co.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2016 .^ a b "World Cup 2017: Pool breakdown" . NRL.com. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016 .^ "Rugby League World Cup European Qualifier to be staged in Monza" . Rugby League Planet. Archived from the original on 28 May 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2016 .^ http://leighsportsvillage.advancedticketing.co.uk/en/pool-a-runner-up-v-pool-b-runner-up/tickets-36948.html [dead link ]
