The 2021 Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup will be held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. It was originally planned to be held in November 2021 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in England. It will be the first occasion on which the

wheelchair rugby league Wheelchair rugby league is a wheelchair-based version of rugby league football, one of two recognised disability versions of the sport. It was developed by French rugby league player, coach and official, Wally Salvan in 2004. Unlike other wheelcha ...

competition has taken place concurrently with the men's and

women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

tournaments. The competition will also be the first time that participants in the wheelchair tournament will receive the same participation fees as players in the other competitions and the first time that prize money will be awarded.

Qualifying nations

England, as hosts, and France, as holders of the world cup were given automatic entry to the competition. Other nations were invited to submit entries and six were chosen against a range of criteria including current international and domestic infrastructure and plans for growth. The six nations selected to join England and France in the tournament are Australia, Norway, Scotland, Spain, USA and Wales. Norway was replaced by Ireland due to the former being unable to prepare sufficiently for the tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic related issues.

Draw

The teams were drawn into two groups of four. The two seeded teams were England (Group A) and France (Group B). The draw was made at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

on 16 January 2020. Teams from pool 1 were drawn by

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. He is the younger son of Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. He is fifth in the line of succ ...

, pool 2 was drawn by

Katherine Grainger Dame Katherine Jane Grainger (born 12 November 1975) is a British former rower and current Chair of UK Sport. She is a 2012 Summer Olympics gold medallist, four-time Olympic silver medallist and six-time World Champion. She served as Chancell ...

and pool 3 by Jason Robinson.

Group A

Group A comprises England (seeded), Australia (pool 1), Spain (pool 2) and Norway (pool 3).

Group B

Group A comprises France (seeded), Wales (pool1), Scotland (pool 2) and USA (pool 3). Norway was replaced by Ireland after the draw.

Venues

The tournament will be played at three venues, the

Copper Box Arena The Copper Box Arena is a multi-sport venue built for the 2012 Summer Olympics, located in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London, England. Previously known as the Handball Arena, it was renamed because, aside from handball, it hosted mo ...

in London will be used for the Group A games, the

English Institute of Sport, Sheffield The English Institute of Sport is a multi-sport facility in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The facility designed by FaulknerBrowns Architects was opened in December 2003 at a cost of £24 million. Its main feature is a 200m indoor track, ...

will host the Group B games as well as both semi-finals. These venues were confirmed when the revised schedule for the tournament was issued. The final was scheduled for the

M&S Bank Arena Liverpool Arena, known for sponsorship reasons as the M&S Bank Arena, and previously Echo Arena, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the city centre of Liverpool, England. The venue hosts live music, comedy performances and sporting events, and ...

in Liverpool but the postponement of the tournament from 2021 to 2022 resulted in a venue change with the final now to be played in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

at Manchester Central. All three tournaments of the World Cup will culminate in the same city on the same date, as the finals of the men's and women's tournaments are also being played in Manchester, 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 19 November.

Officials

The match officials for the tournament were announced on 25 May 2021. The managers of the squad are Alana Sargent (Wales) and Steve Abel (England). The eight officials are: * David Butler (England) * David Roig (France) * Kim Abel (Wales) * Laurent Abrial (France) * Lucy Redmond (Wales) * Matthew Ball (England) * Ollie Cruickshank (Scotland) * Tim Robinson (Australia)

Fixtures

The fixtures were announced on 21 July 2020. All the games in the tournament will be played as double headers.

Group A

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Group B

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Knock out stages

Semi-finals

The semi-finals will be played as a double header at the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield on a date not yet announced.

Final

Team base camps

Base camps were used by the national squads to stay and train before and during the World Cup tournament. On 10 June 2020, these locations were released. All the wheelchair teams are based in either

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

; * London: Australia, England, Norway and Spain * Sheffield: France, Scotland, USA and Wales

References

{{World championships in 2022 2021 Rugby League World Cup

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 ...

World Cup 2021

Rugby League World Cup The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league tournament contested by the top national men's representative teams. The tournament is administered by the International Rugby League and was first held in France in 1954, which was ...

Qualifying nations

Draw

Group A

Group B

Venues

Officials

Fixtures

Group A

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Group B

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Knock out stages

Semi-finals

Final

Team base camps

See also

References