The 2013 Festival of World Cups was a series of

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

held in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

during 2013. The centrepiece of the Festival was the men's

2013 Rugby League World Cup The 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the fourteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup and took place in England, Wales, France and Ireland. between 26 October and 30 November 2013. It was the main event of the year's 2013 Festival of World ...

. In addition to this tournament, there were also world cups held for students, police, women, armed forces and wheelchair teams.

Festival schedule

The Festival of World Cups includes:

University

The eighth Student Rugby League World Cup were held in July. The eight countries that took part were England, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, Scotland and Wales. Group stage games took place at

South Leeds Stadium The John Charles Centre for Sport is a sports facility in South Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It consists of the South Leeds Stadium, Aquatics Centre, Indoor Athletics Centre and Tennis Centre. It was previously named the South Leeds Stadium (a ...

, The Big Fellas Stadium in Featherstone, The LoveRugbyLeague.Com Stadium in Batley and The Tetley’s Stadium in Dewsbury.

Men

The fourteenth Rugby League World Cup took place with the final on 30 November. Fourteen teams took part. Defending Champions New Zealand, hosts England, Australia, France, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Fiji, Samoa, the Cook Islands and Papua New Guinea all qualified automatically, while Italy and the United States qualified through

tournaments A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

in 2010 and 2011. The final was held at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

on 30 November.

Police

The second Police Rugby League World Cup took place in July. Defending champions Fiji joined hosts Great Britain and Australia in the tournament. Group stage games took place at

, The Big Fellas Stadium in Featherstone, The LoveRugbyLeague.Com Stadium in Batley and The Tetley’s Stadium in Dewsbury.

Women

The fourth Women's Rugby League World Cup were held in Leeds alongside the student and police World Cups, with the final taking place at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingle ...

Rugby Stadium,

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

. Seven teams took part including three time defending champions

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

as well as hosts

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, France, Russia, Samoa and Tonga. Group stage games took place at

, The Big Fellas Stadium in Featherstone, The LoveRugbyLeague.Com Stadium in Batley and The Tetley’s Stadium in Dewsbury.

Armed Forces

The second Armed Forces World Cup took place at the

Colchester Garrison Colchester Garrison is a major garrison located in Colchester in the county of Essex, Eastern England. It has been an important military base since the Roman era. The first permanent military garrison in Colchester was established by Legio XX ...

Sports Stadium. Five nations competed; Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and Serbia. The middle weekend of the tournament coincides with the annual military festival held in Colchester.

Wheelchair

Six teams took part in the second

Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup The Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup is an international wheelchair rugby league tournament contested by the top national teams. The tournament was first held in 2008 as part of the Festival of World Cups held in Australia. The first winners we ...

which was held at Medway Park. The six teams were France, Australia,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

References

External links

Official site
{{2013 in rugby league

Festival of World Cups The Festival of World Cups is a collection of Rugby League World Cups usually held as a support series alongside the centrepiece Men's, Women's, and Wheelchair tournaments. First held in 2008, the festival includes events such as police, armed ...