The 2003 Women's Rugby League World Cup was the second staging of the Women's Rugby League World Cup. The tournament was held in Auckland, New Zealand from 28 September, culminating in the final between New Zealand and New Zealand Maori on 12 October. It was held at North Harbour Stadium and the nearby Marist Rugby ground. Nine teams took part

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

Tokelau Tokelau (; ; known previously as the Union Islands, and, until 1976, known officially as the Tokelau Islands) is a dependent territory of New Zealand in the southern Pacific Ocean. It consists of three tropical coral atolls: Atafu, Nukunonu, an ...

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

, Cook Islands, Niue,

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

, New Zealand Maori and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. The initial format was three pools of three, with the top six teams moving into two subsequent pools of three. The top four teams then contested elimination semi-finals..

Teams

Matches

Phase one The nine teams were grouped into three pools of three. Great Britain (two wins) led Samoa (one win) and Tonga in their pool. Australia (two wins) led Māori (one win) and Niue. New Zealand (two wins) led the Cook Islands (one win) and Tokelau. Standinsgs after the first phase were New Zealand (1st, 4 points, +140 differential), Great Britain 4 (2nd, 4, +70), Australia (3rd, 4, +62), New Zealand Māori (4th, 2, +40), Samoa (5th, 2, +24), Cook Islands (6th, 2, -50), Tokelau (7th, 0, -90), Tonga (8th, 0, -94) and Niue (9th, 0, -101). Phase two The three teams without a win in the first phase were placed in the same pool. Samoa (5th after phase one) joined Australia (3rd) and New Zealand (1st) in a pool. The other pool included Great Britain (2nd), Māori (4th) and Cook Islands (6th). Bowl and Plate Semi-Finals
The New Zealand - Australia - Samoa phase two pool finished in that order, New Zealand with two wins, Australia one and Samoa nil. The other qualifying pool finished with Māori on top with two wins, and Great Britain and Cook Islands drawing their match. Great Britain, who had a better points difference, as well as two wins to one from the phase one pools, advanced to the semi-final.
In the consolation pool, Niue (one win, one draw) led Tokelau (one win) and Tonga (one draw).
The Plate and Bowl semi-finals featured Cook Islands, Tokelau, Samoa and Niue. Curiously, the source article in ''Rugby League Review'' does not elaborate on why Tonga replaced Niue in the Bowl Final. However, Niue's point were higher so they stay in Plate category while Tonga went to Bowl Bowl Final Plate Final

Semi-finals

Final

Team of the Tournament

At the conclusion of the tournament, the Lion Foundation World Cup Team 2003 was announced. The following staff were also named in the tournament team: Coach: Lawrence Brydon (NZ), Manager: Juanita Woodhouse (NZ), Trainer: Bob Vercoe (NZ) Luisa Avaiki was named Player of the Tournament.

References

External links

{{2003 in rugby league Rugby League World Cups hosted by New Zealand Women's World Cup Women's Rugby League World Cup 2003 in New Zealand rugby league World Cup Women's rugby league in New Zealand