Australia and New Zealand; the Jillaroos and the Kiwi Ferns: the top two teams teams in Group B and  most fans favourites to contest the finals ended the group stages of the rugby league women’s World Cup when they met in in the last pool game at York’s LNER Community Stadium.

Both teams had yet to lose a game in the competition, but that would change for one of them, who would then face England in the semi-finals, while the winner would face Papua New Guinea.

The Ferns kicked off and got first use of the ball, after Australia let it bounce out of the field, and then promptly gave up possession with a faulty play-the-ball.

Neither France nor the Cook Islands could qualify for the semi-finals of the Women´s World Cup as they met in the opening fixture of a double header at the LNER Stadium in York, but there was still plenty to play for as both sides looked to end their campaign with a victory and two points.

France haven´t managed a single point so far in this year’s competition while the Cook Islands have just a single try to their name in their two games.

France have conceded more against Australia and New Zealand totalling 138 while The Moana have leaked 104.

The Cook Islands were the favourites with the bookies, France being given a sixteen point start on the coupon, but with France hosting the next competition in three years’ time they were looking for a big confidence boost.

England Head Coach Shaun Wane has named the 19-man squad for Saturday’s RLWC2021 Semi Final against Samoa at London’s Emirates Stadium (2:30pm kick-off).

The Canterbury Bulldogs front-row Luke Thompson, who has not played since England’s second group game against France last month, returns to the 19 in place of his former St Helens team-mate Matty Lees, in the only change to the squad named for last Saturday’s Quarter Final against Papua New Guinea.

It will be England’s 200th full international, but only their fifth against Samoa – the teams having met for the first time in a Rugby League World Cup in the opening game of this year’s tournament four weeks ago.

The reigning Betfred Super League champions, St Helens, will travel to Australia in February 2023 to face NRL champions, Penrith Panthers, for the World Club Challenge in what will be new head coach, Paul Wellens’ first competitive fixture.

The match will take place at the home of the Panthers, the BlueBet Stadium on Saturday 18 February, 2023 (6pm KO local/ 7am UK).

In what will be a first for fans in the UK, the World Club Challenge will be broadcast free-to-air by Channel 4 and will be part of double header by the broadcaster that day with the Betfred Super League clash between Hull KR and Wigan Warriors live at 1pm.

The two unbeaten sides in group A of the Womens World Cup met to determine who would finish top of the pile and go on to take on the runners up in Group B in the semi-finals.

England have impressed so far in the tournament but so have the women from Papua New Guinea as the two met for the second match of a double header at Emerald Headingley after the stage had been set with an exciting game between the Canada Ravens and Brazil.

Tomorrow night will see Australia and New Zealand play to settle their group, each defending a one-hundred-percent record so far in the competition with the knowledge as to who will face England or PNG depending on the outcome.

England were firm favourites for tonight’s match, handicapped by twenty-two points on the coupon but the Orchids were backing themselves to spring the upset and repeating their victory from 2019 when the won the second of a two-test series in Port Moresby.

The Canada Ravens and Brazil shared a single aim when they clashed in their final group game: to bow out of the tournament with their first win.

For the Ravens, that would be their first World Cup win since losing the in the semi-final on their debut in the 2017 version of the competition.

For the Amazonas, it would be their first win since beating Argentina that same year to qualify and debut in this tournament.

The pre-match favourites were definitely the experienced Canadian team, ranked fifth in the world before this tournament.

Australia scored a massive win over the Cook Islands in their opening round while their opponents tonight France were comprehensively beaten by New Zealand.

A win for Australia in tonight’s game at the LNER Stadium in York would guarantee their progress into the semi-finals and set up a mouth-watering game against the Kiwi´s on Wednesday to see who would top the group.

Australia are ranked World number one in the women´s game while the French are fifth, the bookies giving France a sixty-eight point start on the handicap coupon as they predicted a massacre, despite the Aussies giving three debuts.

The paying public, and those watching on TV, were hoping that the French would be able to give the Jillaroos a game, but expectations were low.

The second placed Kiwi Ferns took on bottom team Cook Islands in the first match of a Group B double header in the women’s World Cup at York’s LNER Community Stadium.

The Kukis lost 74-0 to Australia last time out, which made New Zealand the clear favourites in this encounter that saw Cooks players Karaitiana and Terehia Matua  both named to line up against their aunt Krystal Rota, who captained the Ferns.

The Kukis took to the field knowing they had never beaten the Ferns, the four-time World Cup champions.

As soon as the draw for the World Cup was made the standout game of the quarter finals looked as though it might be the meeting of Tonga and Samoa, should Tonga win their group and Samoa complete theirs as runners up to England.

And so it came to pass, the most eagerly anticipated game of the tournament so far.

The prize on offer was a semi-final encounter against England next Saturday afternoon as the two sides met for the nineteenth time with Tonga the slight favourites to pick up the win as world ranked number two against a Samoa side ranked as seventh.

Samoa had only been given a four point start on the coupon and everything pointed to a close encounter between the two, Polynesian rugby league mad countries.

New Zealand - ranked No 1 in the world - took on Fiji in the third rugby league World Cup quarter final of this weekend, with the winner facing Australia in the semis.

The Black and Whites were clear favourites, despite the Bati’s famous 2017 win at the same stage, that dumped the Kiwis out of the competition that year, and their own failure to convincingly gell as a team in the tournament so far.

New Zealand kicked the game off, after both teams initially went to the wrong ends.

Both teams exchanged steady opening sets, with the the Kiwis making slightly more territory - and promptly surrendering that advantage by being caught offside.

Papua New Guinea’s men had a shock against England in Wigan, but no-one expected the Orchids women’s team to do anything other than march over newcomers Brazil in the first game of the Hull double header - despite having no World Cup win to their credit before this tournament.

It was the women from PNG who had been the newcomers in the last World Cup, back in 2017, but their 34-12 win of Canada - semi finalists in ’17 tournament - in the last round.

After a baptism of fire against England in the  first round, the Amazonas made a number of changes, bringing in new players to the match day 17 and  moved others around, particularly looking at strengthening their edge defence.

Following a comprehensive win for the Women over Canada in their group match it was the turn of the men to impress on the great surface at the DW Stadium as they took on Papua New Guinea in their quarter final match with the prize on offer a semi-final against either Tonga or Samoa.

It was Papua New Guinea´s fifth game against England with them having lost on every previous occasion, PNG did however beat a Great Britain Lions side in 2019 when they met them in Port Moresby in a tour match.

England were big favourites for the win, The Kumuls getting a twenty-four-point lead on the coupon, but Shaun Wane wasn´t taking the challenge lightly.

An England loss was surely unthinkable.

In the first match of an England double header at the DW Stadium in Wigan it was the England Women who took on Canada in the opening round two match of the Women´s World Cup.

England were looking for a second victory to almost guarantee their progression to the semi-finals, Canada needed the victory to keep their hopes alive after losing to Papua New Guinea in the opening round.

The hosts are ranked as World number three side while the Ravens are sixth, but the bookies and pundits were predicting a walkover for England as they were handicapped by forty-six points on the coupon, Canada 25/1 for the win with England an unbackable 1/500.

 

The Men´s World Cup entered the quarter final stages which what appeared, on paper, to be the most one-sided of the four games as Australia took on Lebanon at the John Smith´s Stadium in Huddersfield on Friday night.

Australia were handicapped by forty-four points on the coupon, a loss unthinkable and you could get odds of 40/1+ on The Cedars springing a surprise and eliminating a Kangaroos side which coach Meninga had stated was his first choice starting thirteen.

To create the close spectacle that people now craved from the World Cup it would need to be a night where everything went right for Lebanon while the Australians had a very bad night at the office.

The cold weather and English referee Chris Kendall were a couple of unknowns thrown into the equation.

England Head Coach Shaun Wane has named the 19-man squad for Saturday’s RLWC2021 Quarter Final against Papua New Guinea at Wigan’s DW Stadium (230pm kick-off).

Captain Sam Tomkins, centres Kallum Watkins and Herbie Farnworth, and forwards Michael McIlorum and Elliott Whitehead return to the squad after missing last Saturday’s final group fixture against Greece.

It will be England’s third World Cup match against the Kumuls, following victories in a group match in Townsville in 2008, and at the same Quarter Final stage in Melbourne in 2017.

Australia´s Jillaroos were given a massive sixty-six point handicap on the coupon and the bookies had stopped taking bets on them winning their game with the women from Cook Islands, who you could take at odds of 100/1 for the win.

The Cook Islands met Australia in the 2017 World Cup where they went down by 58-4, scoring their only points six minutes from full time, but they did beat the England Knights by 26-14 in their warm-up match in Leeds last week.

It was the final game of the opening round, Australia ranked as World number one in the women´s game against the side ranked eleventh.

Group B of the Cazoo Women’s World Cup got under way at  York’s LNER Community Stadium this evening three-time champions the Kiwi Ferns came up against France, who then go on to face double winners Australia in the next round.

The Chanticleers will be hoping for a stand-out performance in a “group of death” containing the only two teams  to have won the women’s World Cup, before hosting the competition themselves in 2025.

But the odds were definitely in favour of the Kiwi Ferns – and the only time the tournament has come close to producing a shock so far was the previous night when Canada’s women scored 12 points despite going down to the PNG Orchids.

The second game of the Women´s World Cup pitched Papua New Guinea against Canada with PNG the clear favourites with the bookies, Canada given a twenty-four point start on the coupon.

But the Ravens were very much an unknown quantity on the international stage and had a side made up of experienced rugby union players.

PNG are world ranked fourth, while Canada are currently ranked in sixth place.

The two sides met at the 2017 World Cup when Canada won by 22-8 in Sydney, however very few players who experienced that game were on show this evening at Emerald Headingley Stadium.

It promised to be a little closer than England´s big win over Brazil in the first match of the double header.

The women’s World Cup tournament kicked off at Headingley in Leeds this afternoon, with hosts England welcoming international newcomers Brazil, as part of a double-header at the famous ground.

The Amazons are the the first South American side to play in a World Cup tournament, and while they might not have a lot of rugby league experience – having only played on game, a friendly against France last week, since qualifying against Argentina in 2018, they brought plenty of wider sports background to the tie.

Captain Maria Graf has tasted life as a rugby union referee, volleyball player and judoka, as well as an under-18 Brazilian champion league player.

A quarter final against England on Saturday afternoon was up for grabs as Papua New Guinea took on a brave Wales side who had so far failed to record a win despite a couple of determined outings in the group of death.

It was the final game of the group stages and PNG went into it as the clear favourites to take the two points and finish second in the group.

But John Kear´s determined Welshmen knew that a win by twenty-two points or more would take them through.

All the Kumuls needed to do was lose by less than that twenty-two and with the bookies giving Wales a twenty-eight point start on the coupon, few thought that Wales were in with any chance.