RLIF board announce Nines World Cup is on the cards along with British tour

A NINES World Cup is to be held in 2019, the Rugby League International Federation has announced.

It has also been confirmed a British team will tour Australia and New Zealand in the same year.

This could be England, as an RLIF statement has suggested, but it is understood that a revival of the Great Britain side has not yet been ruled out.

These developments appear to mean the Four Nations tournament concept has been consigned to history.

The announcements came following a meeting of the RLIF board. It was also confirmed the 2021 World Cup will be a 16-team tournament and that an Emerging Nations World Champship will also be created. The meeting was held to fill in gaps in the international calendar around the World Cups of 2017, 2021 and 2025.

The Nines World Cup is seen as a vehicle to help expand the game, with smaller-sided and shorter games hopefully appealing to a new audience. Hosts for the inaugural tournament are being sought. If it is successful it could be repeated in 2023, or an alternative global event could be held.

The Nines World Cup would complement a tour Down Under from the British Isles. In recent years England have been the principal flagbearer for the Home Nations in top-level international competition with the British Lions side having been mothballed since their last tour in 1996. The final identity of the touring team is yet to be finalised.

Further announcements about the make-up of the international calendar will be made in due course with the next meeting planned for May.

It was also confirmed that Italy have been granted full RLIF membership.