2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s


The 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s was the first staging of the Rugby League World Cup 9s tournament and took place on 18 and 19 October 2019 at Sydney's Bankwest Stadium. The tournament featured teams from 12 International Rugby League member countries, 4 of which also fielded teams in the women's tournament. In the men's final, Australia defeated New Zealand, while in the women's final, New Zealand defeated Australia.

Rule variations

The standard rules of rugby league applied but with the following variations:
The competing teams were hand picked, and the selections were announced on 22 April 2019.
On 27 September 2019, the Tonga National Rugby League were been suspended by the International Rugby League, pending an investigation into their board. Tonga were represented at the tournament by a "Tonga Invitatonal" team.

Men's

Women's

Match Officials

The NRL named the following 18 officials to handle the 28 matches.

Men's tournament

Pool stage

The pools were announced on 22 July 2019. The draw was announced on 4 August 2019.
Pool APool BPool C



Pool A

Pool B


Lebanon were stripped of their win over France due to fielding an ineligible player.

Pool C

Knockout stage

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Semi-finals

New Zealand vs England
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Australia vs Samoa
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Final: Australia v New Zealand

Women's tournament

Pool stage

The draw was announced on 4 August 2019.
Pool A
Australia
England
New Zealand
Papua New Guinea

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Final: Australia v New Zealand

Try scorers

Men's

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Women's

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On 19 October 2019, Lebanon's Jacob Kiraz and Jordan Samrani and Papua New Guinea women's Sera Koroi and Joyce Waula were disqualified from the tournament for being under the age of 18. While the International Rugby League allows players 16 or older to play in Test matches, the National Rugby League, who ran the tournament, stipulates that you must be 18 to play. Kiraz, who would not turn 18 until November 2019, was the only one of the four to play a game, coming off the bench in Lebanon's 12–8 win over France. Lebanon were stripped of the two competition points earned for their win.

Media coverage