Rugby League World Cup

The last three months of 2022 will be exciting times for sports fans as we are treated to back-to-back World Cups, starting with the Rugby League World Cup (RLWC) which is scheduled to be held in England from 15th October 2022 to 19th November 2022.

The RLWC was originally due to be held this time last year, however with the pandemic and the subsequent withdrawal of Australia and New Zealand the tournament was postponed. The fact that the upcoming FIFA 2022 World Cup is now being held in Qatar (November/December) means that sports fans have 3 months of World Cup fever to look forward to! Inside Sport will cover the football next month.

Unlike many major sporting events these days it’s also refreshing to hear that the vast majority of the tough tackling rugby action will be available live to many more fans as more is being broadcast on terrestrial TV.

The sixteenth RLWC tournament will be competed for by 16 teams, far more than the previous two tournaments. To avoid you missing out on any of the action, the dates of the fixtures for the group stages are as follows.

• 15th October – England vs Samoa 2:30pm & Australia vs Fiji 7:30pm
• 16th October – Scotland vs Italy 2:30pm, Jamaica vs Ireland 5:00pm & New Zealand vs Lebanon 7:30pm
• 17th October – France vs Greece 7:30pm 
• 18th October – Tonga vs Papua New Guinea 7:30pm 
• 19th October – Wales vs Cook Islands 7:30 pm 
• 21st October – Australia vs Scotland 7:30pm 
• 22nd October – Fiji vs Italy 2:30pm, England vs France 5:00pm & New Zealand vs Jamaica 7:30pm
• 23rd October – Lebanon vs Ireland 2:30pm & Samoa vs Greece 5:00pm
• 24th October – Tonga vs Wales 7:30pm 
• 25th October – Papua New Guinea vs Cook Islands 7:30pm 
• 28th October – New Zealand vs Ireland 7:30pm
• 29th October – England vs Greece 2:30pm, Fiji vs Scotland 5:00pm & Australia vs Italy 7:30pm
• 30th October – Lebanon vs Jamaica 12:00pm, Tonga vs Cook Islands 2:00pm & Samoa vs France 5:00pm
• 31st October Papua New Guinea vs Wales 7:30pm

The knockout stages will then continue on from 4th November culminating in the final on 19th November at Old Trafford, Manchester.

For the first time the RLWC will be run alongside the women’s and wheelchair tournaments; the majority of matches will be played in the north of England with all participants being paid the same.

It was quite surprising to note that, unlike most big sporting tournaments, the RLWC takes place sporadically with no set period between them. Furthermore, the early tournaments in 1954,57,60,68,70 and 1972 were only contested by 4 teams – Great Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand, so even though it was presented as a ‘World Cup‘ that’s perhaps a little misleading as it was hardly inclusive of all nations. However in America they call their national baseball tournament the ‘World Series’ and with American Football when you win the Super Bowl you are classed as ‘World Champions’ but that’s a story for another day! 

In the first tournament, held in 1954, Great Britain defeated France 16-12 at the Parc des Princes in Paris watched by over 38,000 spectators. Australia hosted the second tournament (1957) and was victorious. In 1960 it was hosted by England and Great Britain were crowned champions for the second time. However, despite a home nation victory, the competition suffered from extremely poor crowds due to the introduction of live broadcasting of games. As a result of this the World Cup would not be contested again for another eight years.

By 1975 it was decided that the competition needed a radical overhaul. Firstly, the Great Britain team was split into England and Wales. All matches were to be played on a home and away basis around the world instead of having a host nation. The number of teams competing was now five. The competition was again competed for in a group format so there was no actual ‘final’ as such; Australia were classed as the winners by virtue of topping the group standings. As Australia had not beaten England in that tournament, a ‘final challenge match’ was hastily arranged, in which Australia romped to a 25-0 victory.

In 1977 it was decided that Great Britain should once more compete as a single entity. Although the final between Australia and Great Britain was a closely fought affair, public interest in the tournament waned due to continued tinkering with the format and it was not held again until the mid-1980s.

By the time of the 1995 tournament, team participation had started to spread around the globe with teams included such as South Africa, Fiji, Tonga, Western Samoa, Papa New Guinea and now England and Wales. As you can see from the above fixtures, in recent years even more countries are now participating in what is now regarded as one of the most exciting Rugby League World Cups ever to be held!

Will there be a new winner this year we wonder? A fair chance you’d think, since only three teams have ever lifted the trophy since 1954. 

New Zealand were victorious in 2008, while Great Britain (winners in 54,60,72) cannot win again as England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland will all now compete independently and in a tournament dominated by the Australians can anyone really stop the already 11-time winning Kangaroos jumping for joy once again!

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FIFA World Cup

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is scheduled to take place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022. This will be the first World Cup ever to be held in the Arab world, and the second World Cup held entirely in Asia after the 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan. In addition, the tournament will be the last to involve 32 teams, with an increase to 48 teams scheduled for the 2026 tournament in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The first match played at the tournament will be contested between Qatar and Ecuador at Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor. The final is due to be held on 18 December 2022, which is also Qatar National Day. The reigning World Cup champions are France. Look out for our World Cup Planner in the next issue!

F1 Las Vegas

The highly-anticipated Formula 1 race next year in Las Vegas officially has a date. According to F1’s 2023 calendar, the Las Vegas event will be held on Saturday Nov. 18, 2023. The race will take place with a “historic 10 pm ‘lights out’ start.” Organizers said at that time the demand for tickets is expected to “far exceed” the more than 100,000 official spectator capacity as Las Vegas eagerly awaits Formula 1’s arrival. “A ticket to the Las Vegas Grand Prix will be the hottest ticket in global sport next year,” Stefano Domenicali, president and CEO of Formula 1, said previously.