2021 Rugby League WC to be staged solely in England
Lions’ Groom ruled out
LONDON, July 17, (Agencies): The 2021 Rugby League World Cup is set to be played solely in England, with 80 percent of games in the 13-a-side code’s northern heartlands, organisers said Monday.
Previous World Cups hosted by England’s Rugby Football League in 1995, 2000 and 2013 have included fixtures in France, Wales and Ireland but changes to British government funding policy have led officials to steer a new course in 2021.
Organisers plan on using 14 venues for the 31 men’s fixtures, down from 21 in 2013. Dutton added that while London would get a share of fixtures, the majority would take place in the north.
Officials will break with tradition by avoiding a clash between the holders, Australia, and the hosts, England,
The Melbourne Rebels has fined Super Rugby players Amanaki Mafi and Lopeti Timani for a physical altercation between the pair after the Rebels’ loss to the Highlanders in Dunedin on Saturday.
The Rebels said in a statement Tuesday it had handed down the maximum financial sanction of Aus$15,000 ($11,150) it was able to under its disciplinary rules after Mafi and Timani’s conduct had ‘breached team protocols and team management instructions.’
Governing body SANZAAR has ordered a review of the use of television match officials in Super Rugby, saying the “practical implementation” of the video referee protocols has become an area of “major concern.”
The announcement of the review on Monday came after a long series of contentious decision by TMOs in Super Rugby and in the June test matches, and in the face of mounting criticism from coaches and players of the intrusion of the video officials into decision-making.
TMOs were installed to assist the on-field referees in reaching decisions which could often be clarified only by the examination of video replays.
Increasingly, video officials have entered unbidden into the decisionmaking process, instructing on-field officials to disallow tries or to award yellow or red cards for foul play. Some of those TMO decisions have proved inaccurate.
Groom