RUGBY LEAGUE NATION

 

 

Foundation Year - 1895

International Team - Lions

Highest finish in World Cup - Runner-up World Cup Final (1975, 1995) Note: During 1975 and after 1992 England took the place of Great Britain in the World Cup.

Top level domestic competition - Super League is the top level rugby league competition in Europe. Currently 14 teams play in the Super League (One from Wales and one from France) . Below the Super League their is the Co-operative Championship and National League Two. The season runs from February to October with the top 8 qualifying for the finals. In 2009 the Super League changed to a franchise system with current and future teams having to meet a criteria set by the Rugby Football League.

History - Huddersfield in the north of England is the birthplace of rugby league. In 1895 Union clubs in the north broke away from the Rugby Union to form the Northern Union and eventually the Rugby Football League. This push came from players in the North who wanted payments for lost income whilst playing the game. This was the very beginning of professionalism.

In 1995 Super League was born with the game in England moving from winter to summer to bring it in-line with the National Rugby League in the Southern Hemisphere. Moving the game to the English summer was a stroke of genius as crowds have increased yearly since the change and so have TV viewing numbers.

The Rugby Football League also has the Challenge Cup. Teams from Great Britain and other countries like Russia and France take part in one of rugby league's oldest knockout competitions. The Challenge Cup Final is played at Wembely stadium in front of 80,000 plus fans year after year and is one of the biggest occasions on the Rugby League Calender.

After WWII England played as Great Britain for Test Matches. From 2008 Great Britain will be split up into the home nations with Great Britain forming for tours only. The decision to change to the home nations is to help with the development of the home nations and provide future international consistency.

Rugby League in England has made huge inroads outside it's northern heartland. The Rugby Football League (RFL) invested resources into developing the sport in the nations capital. The Harlequins Rugby League club have played a big part in that growth and is the only Super League team flying the flag in the South. As of December 2008 over 35,000 people participated in rugby league at all levels in and around London.

England were grouped in the Super Pool along with Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea for the 2008 World Cup. England travelled out to Australia as the most prepared English league team in recent memory. The 10,000 plus English contingent of fans that travelled out to Australia expected their team to go all the way to the World Cup Final.

Unfortunately England just got home against PNG in the opening game winning 32 - 22 after being behind for most the game. England then suffered their biggest defeat in their history against Australia losing 52 - 4. The hits kept on coming for England as they lost twice to New Zealand in the last pool game and then again in the semi final. England bombed out of the World Cup as the biggest disappointment of the tournament and raised many questions about the amount of Australian players in the European Super League. The RFL are now looking to scale down the amount of overseas players in the Super League.

England performed above expectations in 2009. They defeated France and Wales in test matches building nicely towards the Four Nations. In the Four Nations England pulled of a massive upset and restored some pride in the English Jersey to book a place in the Four Nations final against Australia by defeating the Word Cup Champions New Zealand 20 - 12 in the pool rounds. In the Four Nations Final England lead just after half time but fell away in the last 25 minutes losing the final to Australia.

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