The 2017 Rugby League World Cup Europe qualification was a

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

tournament held in October and November 2016 to decide the three European qualifiers for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. It consisted of a

round-robin tournament A round-robin tournament or all-play-all tournament is a competition format in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & ...

which saw

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

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

qualify by winning their respective tables.

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

claimed the final qualifying spot in the World Cup after winning a second place play-off against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

on 4 November 2016.

Overview

On 3 October 2014, the 2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifying competition was announced. Three European teams were granted automatic qualification, as they had reached the quarter-finals of the

2013 Rugby League World Cup The 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the fourteenth World Cup for men’s national rugby league teams. It took place between the 26 October and 30 November and was hosted by England and Wales (although some games were played in France and Ire ...

;

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Ten teams were able to qualify for the qualification tournament, with the first being eliminated when

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

defeated

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

on 9 May 2015.

and

were granted entry to the qualification tournament. Both teams already had a chance to qualify for the World Cup during the 2014 European Cup, but failed to do so. One of the other tournament places was allocated to the winner of the European Championship C tournament, and the other three were allocated to the top three teams from the European Championship B.

and

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

finished as the top three teams in the European Championship B, with

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

being eliminated. Spain finished as the top team in the European Championship C, with

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

eliminated.

Teams

Qualified teams for final phase: * were granted automatic entry as 1st seed * were granted automatic entry as 2nd seed * qualified as 3rd seed after finishing top of the

Rugby League European Championship B The European Championship B (formerly the European Shield), is a rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact s ...

. * qualified as 4th seed after finishing 2nd in the

. * qualified as 5th seed after finishing 3rd in the

. * qualified as 6th seed after finishing top of the Rugby League European Championship C.

Squads

Ireland

The final Ireland 22-man squad as of 9 October 2016 is as follows: *Coach: Mark Aston

Italy

The final Italy 22-man squad as of 8 October 2016 is as follows: *Coach:

Cameron Ciraldo Cameron Ciraldo (born 30 October 1984) is a professional rugby league football coach who is the head coach of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the National Rugby League (NRL), and a former professional rugby league footballer. He is known a ...

* * Denotes a rugby union club.

Russia

The final Russia 22-man squad as of 6 September 2016 is as follows: *Coach: Denis Korolev * * Denotes a rugby union club.

Serbia

The final 22-man squad as of 5 October 2016 is as follows: *Coach: Ljubomir Bukvic

Spain

The final 22-man squad as of 4 October 2016 is as follows: *Coach: Darren Fisher * * Denotes a rugby union club.

Wales

The final Wales 22-man squad as of 7 October 2016 is as follows: On October 14,

Dai Evans David "Dai" Evans (1872 – 29 January 1912) was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Penygraig and international rugby for Wales. Evans was born in Maenclochog, Pembrokeshire, but came to the Rhondda Valley to f ...

was brought into the squad to replace Calvin Wellington who withdrew due to a hamstring injury. On October 21, 19-year old Ben Morris was called up to the squad to play in a mid-qualifying campaign test match against Jamaica. On October 29, Danny Ansell was called up to the squad with a possibility of playing in the last qualifying game against Italy. ^* Sam Hopkins was called into the team for the final qualifier against Italy after Jacob Emmitt withdrew due to a hamstring injury.International dates for Leigh Centurions pair
''Leigh Journal'', 29 October 2016 *Coach: John Kear

Final Tables

Group A

Group B

Fixtures

Russia vs Spain

Wales vs Serbia

Serbia vs Italy

Spain vs Ireland

Italy vs Wales

Ireland vs Russia

Second place play-off

The final qualifying place was determined by a single knockout match held between the two group runners-up on 4 November 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rugby League World Cup qualification - Europe, 2017 World Cup qualification - Europe Qualification,Europe 2016 in Irish sport 2016 in Italian sport 2016 in Russian sport 2016 in Serbian sport 2016 in Spanish sport World Cup qualification