Tonga join big three among top seeds

Tonga will join New Zealand as top seeds alongside England and Australia in an expanded Rugby League World Cup format in 2021.

Details of the draw were unveiled yesterday following a four-day congress of the Rugby League International Federation in York.

The World Cup, which the Kangaroos won last year, has been increased from 14 to 16 teams, making for a simpler format, with the top two teams from each of the four pools going through to the quarterfinals.

New Zealand’s 2017 campaign ended disastrously as the Kiwis were knocked out by Fiji in the last eight, while Tonga ignited interested in the event with top players from both Australia and New Zealand instead representing the Pacific Island nation in their run to the semi-finals.

The draws for all three World Cups, including the women’s and wheelchair events, will be made in England on November 27, 2019, exactly two years before the 2021 final.

The second pot will feature tier two teams Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Fiji, and Lebanon, who all qualified automatically after reaching the last eight of the 2017 tournament jointly held in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

The final two pots will feature qualifiers, based on their world ranking, including the two most recently qualified sides, France and Wales.

After failing to win through from the European championship, Ireland and Scotland hope to secure qualification at the second attempt in 2019, while the United States, Chile, Jamaica, and Canada will provide one qualifier from the Americas championship in Jacksonville this week.

It will be the first time the men’s tournament will include 16 teams since 2000.

The women’s tournament will begin on the men’s quarterfinal weekend in 2021.