2017 Rugby League World Cup qualification – Europe

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.

Overview

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.

Teams

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

Club Team	Players
Gloucestershire All Golds	Morgan Evans, Steve Parry, Lewis Reece
Hunslet Hawks	Danny Ansell
Leigh Centurions	Sam Hopkins
London Broncos	Elliot Kear, Rhys Williams
Mackay Cutters	Andrew Gay
Oldham R.L.F.C.	Joe Burke
Salford Red Devils	Philip Joseph, Craig Kopczak
Sheffield Eagles	Matty Fozard
Souths Logan Magpies	Ollie Olds
South Wales Ironmen	Courtney Davies, Dai Evans, Connor Farrer, Ian Newbury, Christiaan Roets
St. Helens	Regan Grace, Ben Morris
Swinton Lions	*Jacob Emmitt, Rhodri Lloyd
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	Anthony Walker
Widnes Vikings	Gil Dudson, Lloyd White,

Final Tables

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	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

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	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

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Fixtures

Russia vs Spain

Russia	40 – 6	Spain
Try: Burlutskii 12' Zagoskin 14' Kosharin 33' Lysokon 44' Bratko 54' Chuprin 76' Buryak 79' Goal: Lysokon 4/5 Bratko 1/1 Burlutskii 1/1	Report	Try: Rango 69' Goal: Garcia 1/1

15 October 2016[15]

Fili Stadium, Moscow Attendance: 427 Referee: Jack Smith Player of the Match: Aleksandr Lysokon

FB 1 Nikolay Zagoskin RW 5 Vadim Buryak RC 21 Kirill Kosharin LC 3 Leonid Kalinin LW 18 Dmitry Bratko SO 6 Aleksandr Lysokon SH 7 Denis Tiulenev PR 8 Sergei Konstantinov (c) HK 4 Petr Botnarash PR 10 Ivan Troitskii SR 12 Mikhail Burlutskii SR 11 Andrey Kuznetsov LF 13 Viacheslav Eremin Substitutes: IC 17 Igor Chuprin IC 2 Maksim Suchkov IC 9 Vladimir Vlasyuk IC 15 Sergey Gaponov Coach: Denis Korolev

FB 1 Daniel Garcia RW 2 Clement Laguerre RC 3 Antonio Puerta LC 4 Alexandre Doutres LW 5 Chris Lopez FE 6 Ivan Ordaz HB 7 Miguel Charters-Blanco PR 8 Luis Thorp HK 9 Gonzalo Morro PR 10 Adria Alonso SR 11 Cedric Bringuier SR 12 Matt Dulley LK 13 Aitor Davila (c) Substitutes: IC 14 Andrew Pilkington IC 15 Leandre Torres IC 16 Kevin Aparicio IC 17 Juan Pablo Rango Coach: Darren Fisher

Wales vs Serbia

Wales	50 – 0	Serbia
Try: Williams (2) 12', 19 Grace (2) 28', 56 Olds (2) 33', 69' Davies 46' Gay 52' Dudson 76 Goal: White 4/6 Davies 3/3	Report	Try:

15 October 2016[16]

Parc Stebonheath, Llanelli Attendance: 902 Referee: Chris Campbell Player of the Match: Elliot Kear

FB 1 Elliot Kear RW 2 Regan Grace RC 4 Christiaan Roets LC 18 Andrew Gay LW 5 Rhys Williams SO 6 Courtney Davies SH 7 Ollie Olds PR 8 Gil Dudson HK 9 Lloyd White PR 10 Craig Kopczak (c) SR 11 Rhodri Lloyd SR 15 Joe Burke LF 13 Philip Joseph Substitutes: IC 14 Steve Parry IC 16 Jacob Emmitt IC 17 Anthony Walker IC 19 Matty Fozard Coach: John Kear

FB 1 Vojislav Dedić RW 2 Joshua Marjanović RC 3 Miloš Ćalić LC 4 Stevan Stevanović LW 5 Pero Madžarević 54' to 64' FE 6 Daniel Burke HB 7 Dalibor Vukanović (c) PR 8 David Andjelić HK 9 Vladislav Dedić PR 10 Jordan Grant SR 11 Chad Grant SR 12 Jason Muranka LK 13 Stefan Nedeljković Substitutes: IC 14 Ilija Radan IC 15 James Mirceski IC 16 Reece Grkinić IC 17 Džavid Jašari Coach: Ljubomir Bukvic

Serbia vs Italy

Serbia	14 – 62	Italy
Try: Marjanović (2) 68', 79' Burke 73' Goal: Dedić 1/2	Report	Try: Lepori (4) 4', 10', 12', 46' Cerruto (4) 17', 35', 49', 71' Wakeman 22' Santi 45' Campese 58' Calegari 62' Goal: Bergamasco 7/11 Campese 0/1

22 October 2016[17]

Makiš Stadium, Belgrade Attendance: 1,037 Player of the Match: Terry Campese

FB 1 Vojislav Dedić RW 2 Miloš Zogović RC 3 Miloš Ćalić LC 4 Stevan Stevanović LW 5 Joshua Marjanović FE 6 Daniel Burke HB 7 Dalibor Vukanović (c) PR 8 Ilija Radan HK 9 Reece Grkinić PR 10 Jordan Grant SR 11 James Mirceski SR 12 Jason Muranka LK 13 Chad Grant Substitutes: IC 14 David Andjelić IC 15 Miodrag Tomić IC 16 Vlado Kušić IC 17 Vladislav Dedić Coach: Ljubomir Bukvic

FB 1 Mason Cerruto RW 2 Chris Centrone RC 3 Justin Castellaro LC 4 Mirco Bergamasco LW 5 Richard Lepori FE 6 Terry Campese HB 7 Ryan Ghietti PR 8 Shannon Wakeman HK 9 Dean Parata PR 10 Gavin Hiscox SR 11 Jayden Walker SR 12 Brenden Santi LK 13 Joel Riethmuller Substitutes: IC 14 Colin Wilkie IC 15 Christophe Calegari IC 16 Kieran Quabba IC 17 Gioele Celerino Coach: Cameron Ciraldo

Spain vs Ireland

Spain	6 – 46	Ireland
Try: Charters-Blanco 62' Goal: Garcia 1/1	Report	Try: Roberts 2' Dunne (2) 5', 52' Littler (2) 29', 74' Hasson 39' Peacock 56' King 66' Grix 77' Goal: Finn 5/9

22 October 2016

Polideportivo Quatre Carreres, Valencia Attendance: 323 Referee: Patrice Benausse Player of the Match: Liam Finn

FB 1 Daniel Garcia RW 2 Clement Laguerre RC 3 Antonio Puerta LC 4 Alexandre Doutres LW 5 Chris Lopez FE 6 Ivan Ordaz HB 7 Miguel Charters-Blanco PR 8 Luis Thorp HK 9 Nicolas Munoz PR 10 Joel Marquez-Laynez SR 11 Leandre Torres SR 12 Cedric Bringuier 65' to 75' LK 13 Kevin Aparicio Substitutes: IC 14 Andrew Pilkington IC 15 Aitor Davila IC 16 Matt Dulley IC 17 Adria Alonso Coach: Darren Fisher

FB 1 Shannon McDonnell RW 2 Casey Dunne RC 3 Stuart Littler LC 4 Oliver Roberts LW 5 Alan McMahon FE 6 Scott Grix HB 7 Liam Finn (c) PR 8 James Hasson HK 9 Joseph Keyes PR 10 Luke Ambler SR 11 David Allen SR 12 Will Hope LK 13 George King Substitutes: IC 14 Haydn Peacock IC 15 Matty Hadden IC 16 James Kelly IC 17 Gareth Gill Coach: Mark Aston

Italy vs Wales

Italy	14 – 20	Wales
Try: Wilkie 26' Castellaro 29' Goal: Campese 3/3	Report	Try: Morris (2) 16', 59' Walker 37' Gay 52' Goal: Davies 2/4

29 October 2016[18]

Stadio Brianteo, Monza Attendance: 839 Referee: Chris Campbell

FB 2 Chris Centrone RW 3 Justin Castellaro RC 15 Christophe Calegari LC 4 Mirco Bergamasco LW 5 Richard Lepori FE 6 Terry Campese HB 7 Ryan Ghietti PR 8 Shannon Wakeman HK 9 Dean Parata PR 10 Gavin Hiscox SR 11 Jayden Walker SR 12 Brenden Santi LK 13 Joel Riethmuller Substitutes: IC 1 Mason Cerruto IC 14 Colin Wilkie IC 16 Kieran Quabba IC 17 Gioele Celerino Coach: Cameron Ciraldo

FB 1 Elliot Kear RW 2 Rhys Williams RC 26 Ben Morris LC 16 Andrew Gay LW 3 Dai Evans SO 6 Courtney Davies SH 17 Matty Fozard PR 8 Gil Dudson HK 9 Lloyd White PR 10 Craig Kopczak (c) SR 11 Rhodri Lloyd SR 12 Philip Joseph LF 13 Steve Parry Substitutes: IC 14 Joe Burke IC 15 Anthony Walker IC 23 Sam Hopkins IC 24 Danny Ansell Coach: John Kear

Ireland vs Russia

Ireland	70 – 16	Russia
Try: Hope 7' Dunne 10' McMahon (2) 13', 36' Grix (2) 23', 62' T. King 32' McDonnell 38' Roberts (2) 46', 72' G. King 59' Kelly 64' Littler 69' Goal:Finn 8/11 Littler 1/2	Report	Try: Eramin 4' Kalinin 26' Buryak 79' Goal: Lysokon 2/3

30 October 2016[17]

Carlisle Grounds, Bray Attendance: 867 Referee: Chris Kendall

FB 1 Shannon McDonnell RW 2 Casey Dunne RC 3 Stuart Littler LC 4 Toby King LW 5 Alan McMahon FE 6 Scott Grix HB 7 Liam Finn (c) PR 8 George King HK 9 Joseph Keyes PR 10 Luke Ambler SR 11 David Allen SR 12 Will Hope LK 13 Oliver Roberts Substitutes: IC 14 Joe Philbin IC 15 Matty Hadden IC 16 James Kelly IC 17 Gareth Gill Coach: Mark Aston

FB 1 Vyascheslav Eramin RW 5 Vadim Buryak RC 21 Kirill Kosharin LC 3 Leonid Kalinin LW 18 Dmitry Bratko SO 6 Aleksandr Lysokon SH 7 Denis Tiulenev PR 8 Sergei Konstantinov (c) HK 4 Petr Botnarash PR 10 Ivan Troitskii SR 12 Mikhail Burlutskii SR 11 Andrey Kuznetsov LF 13 Nikolai Zagoskin Substitutes: IC 17 Vadim Fedchuk IC 2 Maksim Suchkov IC 9 Maksim Tsynkovich IC 15 Maksim Suchkov Coach: Denis Korolev

Second place play-off

Main article: 2017 Rugby League World Cup qualification (Europe play-off)

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

Italy	76 – 0	Russia

4 November 2016[19]

Leigh Sports Village, Leigh, England