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The 2017 Rugby League World Cup Europe qualification was a rugby league 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 which saw Wales and Ireland qualify by winning their respective tables. Italy claimed the final qualifying spot in the World Cup after winning a second place play-off against Russia on 4 November 2016.
On 3 October 2014, the 2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifying competition was announced.[1] Three European teams were granted automatic qualification, as they had reached the quarter-finals of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup; England, France and Scotland.
Ten teams were able to qualify for the qualification tournament, with the first being eliminated when Spain defeated Latvia on 9 May 2015.[2]
Wales and Ireland 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.[3] 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.
Italy, Russia and Serbia finished as the top three teams in the European Championship B, with Ukraine being eliminated.[4]
Spain finished as the top team in the European Championship C, with Greece and Malta eliminated.
Qualified teams for final phase:
Wales were granted automatic entry as 1st seed
Ireland were granted automatic entry as 2nd seed
Serbia qualified as 3rd seed after finishing top of the Rugby League European Championship B.
Russia qualified as 4th seed after finishing 2nd in the Rugby League European Championship B.
Italy qualified as 5th seed after finishing 3rd in the Rugby League European Championship B.
Spain 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:[5]
- Coach:
Mark Aston
| Club Team | Players |
|---|---|
 Athboy Longhorns |  Casey Dunne |
| Ballynahinch Rabbitohs | Gareth Gill |
| Belfast Met Scholars | Chris Hall |
 Bradford Bulls |  Joseph Keyes |
| Dublin City Exiles | James Kelly, Mikey Russell |
| Galway Tribesmen | Alan McMahon |
| Halifax |  Luke Ambler |
| Huddersfield Giants |  Scott Grix, Oliver Roberts |
| Ireland Students |  Matthew Cahoon |
| Leigh Centurions |  Greg McNally |
| Oldham R.L.F.C. |  Will Hope |
 Parramatta Eels |  James Hasson |
| Redcliffe Dolphins |  Danny Bridge |
| Rochdale Hornets |  Matty Hadden |
| St. Helens |  Shannon McDonnell |
| Wakefield Trinity Wildcats |  Liam Finn |
| Warrington Wolves |  George King, Toby King, Joe Philbin |
| Whitehaven |  David Allen |
Italy
The final Italy 22-man squad as of 8 October 2016 is as follows:[6]
- Coach:
Cameron Ciraldo
| Club Team | Players |
|---|---|
| Blacktown Workers | Dean Parata |
 Brianza Tigers | Patrik Ziliotti |
| Cairns Brothers | Joel Riethmuller |
| Canterbury Bulldogs |  Joseph Tramontana |
| Cronulla Sharks |  Jayden Walker |
| Hull Kingston Rovers |  Terry Campese, Josh Mantellato |
 Lézignan Corbieres |  Christophe Calegari |
| Lions Brescia | Giuseppe Pagani |
| Mackay Cutters |  Gavin Hiscox |
| Newcastle Thunder |  Gioele Celerino |
| Northern Pride |  Justin Castellaro, Ryan Ghietti, Colin Wilkie |
| North Queensland Cowboys |  Kieran Quabba |
| Oldham R.L.F.C. | Richard Lepori |
 *Sacramento Express | Mirco Bergamasco |
| St. George Illawarra Dragons |  Shannon Wakeman |
 South Wales Ironmen |  Chris Vitalini |
| Townsville Blackhawks |  Brenden Santi |
| Windsor Wolves | Ryan Tramonte |
| Wyong Roos | Chris Centrone |
- * Denotes a rugby union club.
Russia
The final Russia 22-man squad as of 6 September 2016 is as follows:[7]
- Coach: Denis Korolev
| Club Team | Players |
|---|---|
 CSKA Moscow | Kirill Kosharin |
| Dinamo | Viacheslav Eremin, Andrey Kuznetsov |
| *Ivanovo White Sharks | Ivan Troitskii |
| RC Lokomotiv Moscow | Vadim Buryak, Leonid Kalinin, Maxim Tsinkovich |
| Nara | Petr Botnarash, Mikhail Burlutskii, Sergey Gaponov, Anatoly Grigorev, Sergei Konstantinov, Aleksandr Lysokon, Maksim Suchkov, Denis Tiulenev, Vladimir Vlasyuk, Nikolay Zagoskin |
| Moscow Fili | Anton Iunisov, Iustin Petrushka |
| Moscow Storm | Dmitry Bratko, Igor Chuprin, Vadim Fedchuk |
- * Denotes a rugby union club.
Serbia
The final 22-man squad as of 5 October 2016 is as follows:[8]
- Coach: Ljubomir Bukvic
| Club Team | Players |
|---|---|
| Blacktown Workers | David Andjelić |
| Cabramatta Two Blues | Reece Grkinić |
| Collegians | Daniel Burke |
| Dewsbury Rams |  Jason Muranka |
 Dorćol Spiders | Dalibor Samardžić, Dalibor Vukanović, Stefan Nedeljković, Stevan Stevanović |
| Kawana Dolphins | Joshua Marjanović |
| RLK Partizan Belgrade | Džavid Jašari, Vlado Kušić |
| RLK Radnički Nova Pazova | Pero Madžarević, Žarko Kovačević |
| RLK Red Star Belgrade | Miloš Ćalić, Miloš Zogović, Vladislav Dedić, Vojislav Dedić |
| St Clair Comets | Chad Grant |
| Villeneuve Leopards |  Vladica Nikolić |
| Western Suburbs Magpies |  James Mirceski |
| Wests Tigers |  Jordan Grant |
| Unattached | Ilija Radan |
Spain
The final 22-man squad as of 4 October 2016 is as follows:[9]
- Coach: Darren Fisher
| Club Team | Players |
|---|---|
| Army Rugby League |  Chris Lopez |
 Custodians Madrid | Antonio Puerta, Daniel Moreno |
| Hull F.C. |  Joel Marquez-Laynez |
| Irreductibles | Ivan Ordaz |
| Los Gossos | Clement Laguerre |
| Palau XIII Broncos |  Alexandre Doutres, Cedric Bringuier, Leandre Torres, Mathieu Griffi, Pierre Negre |
| Paterna Dragons | Matt Dulley |
| Seaton Rangers | Miguel Charters-Blanco |
| *Stade Français | Kevin Aparicio |
| Tonneins XIII | Gonzalo Morro |
| Torrent Tigres | Aitor Davila, Juan Pablo Rango, Raul Simo |
| Valencia Warriors | Adrian Alonso, Andrew Pilkington, Luis Thorp |
| Woolston Rovers | Daniel Garcia |
- * Denotes a rugby union club.
Wales
The final Wales 22-man squad as of 7 October 2016 is as follows:[10]
On October 14, Dai Evans was brought into the squad to replace Calvin Wellington who withdrew due to a hamstring injury.[11]
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.[12]
On October 29, Danny Ansell was called up to the squad with a possibility of playing in the last qualifying game against Italy.[13]
*Sam Hopkins was called into the team for the final qualifier against Italy after Jacob Emmitt withdrew due to a hamstring injury.[14]
- Coach: John Kear
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wales |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 70 | 14 | +56 | 4 | Qualification for 2017 Rugby League World Cup |
| 2 | Italy |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 76 | 34 | +42 | 2 | Advance to fourth round |
| 3 | Serbia |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 112 | −98 | 0 |
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ireland |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 116 | 22 | +94 | 4 | Qualification for 2017 Rugby League World Cup |
| 2 | Russia |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 56 | 76 | −20 | 2 | Advance to fourth round |
| 3 | Spain |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 86 | −74 | 0 |
Russia vs Spain
15 October 2016[15] |
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Wales vs Serbia
15 October 2016[16] |
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Serbia vs Italy
22 October 2016[17] |
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Spain vs Ireland
22 October 2016 |
Polideportivo Quatre Carreres, Valencia Attendance: 323 Referee: Patrice BenaussePlayer of the Match: Liam Finn |
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Italy vs Wales
29 October 2016[18] |
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Ireland vs Russia
30 October 2016[17] |
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The final qualifying place was determined by a single knockout match held between the two group runners-up on 4 November 2016.
4 November 2016[19] |
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