The 2016 World Club Series (also known as the 2016 Dacia World Club Series due to sponsorship by

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus r ...

) was the second edition of the

World Club Series The World Club Series was an annual rugby league football competition played between clubs from the NRL (Australia and New Zealand) and the Super League (England and France). The competition culminated with the World Club Challenge, a single ma ...

and saw three

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

teams and three

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

(NRL) teams participate. The series included the

World Club Challenge The World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league competition between the winners of the Australasian National Rugby League (NRL) and the European Super League, for the de facto club world championship of the sport. The first such match was pl ...

, a one-off match between the champions of the Super League and NRL.

Background

Qualification for the Super League teams was changed to include the Challenge Cup winners, as well as the League Leaders and Grand Final winner. As the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headi ...

claimed all three possible qualification positions the Super League Board decided to invite Super League semi-finalist St Helens to take part in the series.Clubs confirmed for 2016 World Club Series
''superleague.co.uk'', 8 October 2015 The three National Rugby League teams were announced as the champion

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

, the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...

, who were defeated in the grand final, and the minor premier

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...

Series details

Game 1: Fourth Vs Minor Premiers

The match celebrated the 40th anniversary of the inaugural World Club Challenge, which involved both teams.

Game 2: Grand Final runners-up

Game 2 was a repeat of last years fixture where

won 14-12 in golden point extra time.

World Club Challenge

First time the two clubs had met since the

1997 World Club Championship The 1997 World Club Championship was an expansion of the World Club Challenge concept by Super League. The rugby competition was restructured to include all 22 clubs from the Australasian Super League (Australia), Super League and the Super Leag ...

tournament.

Leeds Rhinos

Leeds won the Treble in 2015 in their most successful season. They beat

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

22-20 in the Grand Final to qualify for their 7th World Club Challenge.

North Queensland Cowboys

The Cowboys won their first Premiership in 2015 which was their 20th anniversary. They beat the

in extra time of a dramatic Grand Final to qualify for their first World Club Challenge.

Teams

References

{{World Club Challenge 2016 in Australian rugby league 2016 in English rugby league World Club Challenge Leeds Rhinos matches North Queensland Cowboys matches