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2008 Rugby League World Cup

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2008 Rugby League World Cup
File:Rugby League World Cup 2008.jpg
Top try scorer(s)England Lee Smith (3 tries)
Ireland Damien Blanch (3 tries)
Fiji Akuila Uate (3 tries)
Tour chronology
Next tour2013

The year 2008's Rugby League World Cup will be the 13th staging since the inauguration of the tournament in 1954, but the first since the 2000 event[1]. Scheduled to take place between 25 October and 22 November, it will be the fourth time that the tournament has been held in Australia, the first being in 1957. The tournament will feature the best ten teams across the globe who are split into three groups. A total of eighteen matches will take place in twelve different venues across four Australian states. The tournament will end a year of celebrations commemorating the centenary of the game in the southern hemisphere.

Five teams were granted automatic qualification, included reigning champions Australia, whilst another five qualified through various qualification tournaments, involving fourteen teams, which commenced in 2006[2]. There are no World Cup debutants, with Scotland and Ireland having made their debut in 2000. Samoa are the lowest ranked team to compete, coming 12th in the World Rankings.

The thirteenth Cup was originally scheduled to be held in Australia in 2004[3], however the lack of international success by the Great Britain and New Zealand after the 2000 World Cup, and the rise of the Tri-Nations tournament, meant that it was delayed for a further four years.[4] The Rugby League International Federation officially announced this tournament on 6 May 2006[5], with further details on scheduling and dates following on 19 April 2007[6].

The first match will take place in Townsville between England and Papua New Guinea, although the official opening ceremony of the competition will occur ahead of the Australia and New Zealand match the following day in Sydney[7]. The final will take place at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

Opening Ceremony

On Sunday night, October 27, the Sydney Football Stadium hosted the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. It started with Greg Inglis reciting a speech about "Playing Fair". Following Inglis' speech, there was an Aboriginal Smoking Ceremony to welcome all the athletes and participants. This included a rather large sized Rainbow Serpent which represented the Aboriginal Dreamtime. The last part of the ceremony involved a performance of the Rugby League World Cup Anthem "Hero" by Natalie Bassingthwaighte.

Teams

See also: 2008 Rugby League World Cup squads

Team Qualification Coach Captain Ranking 2000 World Cup Result
Samoa Samoa Repechage Winner John Ackland Nigel Vagana 12 Quarter-Final
Australia Australia Automatic Qualifier Ricky Stuart Darren Lockyer 1 Winner
England England Automatic Qualifier Tony Smith Jamie Peacock 3 Semi-Final
Fiji Fiji Pacific Group Runner-Up Joe Dakuitoga Wes Naiqama 6 Group Stage
France France Automatic Qualifier John Monie Jerome Guisset 5 Quarter-Final
Ireland Ireland Europe Group 2 Winner Andy Kelly Scott Grix 9 Quarter-Final
New Zealand New Zealand Automatic Qualifier Stephen Kearney Nathan Cayless 2 Runner-Up
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea Automatic Qualifier Adrian Lam John Wilshere 7 Quarter-Final
Scotland Scotland Europe Group 1 Winner Steve McCormack Danny Brough 11 Group Stage
Tonga Tonga Pacific Group Winner Jim Dymock Lopini Paea 4 Group Stage

Match Officials

Pink Charity Shirts

In support of the Australian National Breast Cancer Foundation referees will wear pastel pink shirts while officiating matches to raise awareness. The shirts, which carry the NBCF logo on the collar, are to be signed by the team captains at each World Cup game and later auctioned off with the proceeds going to the NBCF.[10]

Format

Draw

The draw, after being confirmed by the RLIF on 19 April 2007, is made up of three groups. The first group will be made up of four teams, Australia, England, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, whilst the other two groups will involve three teams each. The semi finals will be made up of the first three teams in the first group and the winner of a playoff between the winners of the second and third groups.

However, the draw had been put into doubt after the Papua New Guinea team claimed that the draw was unfair to them, and threatened to boycott the tournament should it not be changed. Marcus Bai, former Papua New Guinean winger and captain said[11]:

They have to change it and if they don't, we won't come. We will ring up the other island nations and teams elsewhere who don't qualify and we can have our own competition. They have shown no respect for our country or for our efforts to promote the game up there.

Fortunately for the tournament, this separate island competition is not going to happen. Papua New Guinea are still angry with the draw but will now compete and will see it as a huge challenge, but one which will see them be rewarded if they win. The draw was finalised on 4 October 2007[12].

Points

Like all international Rugby League matches, teams will receive 2 points for a win, and 1 point for a draw. This means that unlike in the NRL, there will be no golden point rule enforced. In group stages, if two teams have the same number of points than position is determined on points difference, the number of points scored minus the number of points conceded.

Ranking Matches

After group matches have been completed, a match featuring the second placed teams in Group B and Group C will take place with the winner receiving 7th place. Similarly the third placed teams in Group B and Group C will play for 9th place. It is believed that these results will be taken into account in the 2009 RLIF World Rankings.

Qualification

Tournaments

Main article: 2008 Rugby League World Cup qualifying

The five remaining places in the World Cup will be determined by qualification rounds. Two European rounds and Pacific, Atlantic and Repechage rounds were scheduled. Tonga and Fiji became the first two nations to qualify after Tonga defeated Samoa 18-10 in Leeds on 22 October. Samoa were forced to enter the repechage. In the European Group Two, Ireland drew 16-16 with Lebanon to ensure qualification, while Lebanon were forced to enter the repechage. The final automatic place went to Scotland, who defeated Wales 37-32 on aggregate after the two legs. Wales then faced Lebanon in the repechage semi-final, where they lost in a surprise 50-26 defeat, to knock them out of World Cup Qualifying. Lebanon then faced Samoa, who beat USA 42-10 in the first semi-final, on November 14th, for the final qualifying position. The game was won by Samoa, 38-16, and so they booked the tenth and final place. Many qualification matches were broadcast live by Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and New Zealand, whilst BigPondTV broadcasted matches online for other fans around the world[13].

Automatic Entry

The following teams were given automatic entry into the World Cup:

Venues

The final will be played at Suncorp Stadium, the home of the Brisbane Broncos, after the Queensland State Government outbid Sydney, where the final would have been held at ANZ Stadium.


Suncorp Stadium
Telstra Dome
Sydney Football Stadium
City State Stadium Capacity
Brisbane Queensland Suncorp Stadium 52,500
Gold Coast Queensland Skilled Park 27,000
Townsville Queensland Dairy Farmers Stadium 25,000
Penrith New South Wales CUA Stadium 21,000
Parramatta New South Wales Parramatta Stadium 20,000
Rockhampton Queensland Browne Park 8,000
Sydney New South Wales Sydney Football Stadium 45,500
Melbourne Victoria Telstra Dome 56,347
Newcastle New South Wales EnergyAustralia Stadium 26,126
Canberra Australian Capital Territory Canberra Stadium 25,011
Wollongong New South Wales WIN Stadium 20,000
Gosford New South Wales Bluetongue Stadium 20,119

Template:2008RLWC map

Tickets

Tickets for Australian residents went on sale 7 November and internationally on 18 February [14]. However tickets were not distributed until 3 March. Ticketek were announced as the official ticketing agency for the competition, selling tickets for all matches[15]. Ticketmaster and Pilbeam Theatre are selling tickets to the Telstra Dome and Browne Park matches respectively.

On the 9 May it was announced that 25,000 tickets had been sold for the final in Brisbane[16].

Sponsorship

The Official Sponsors of the Rugby League World Cup 2008 are:[17]

"Heroes 08" campaign

Heroes 08 promotional video scene

The World Cup's "Heroes 08" promotional campaign was launched from the Sydney Opera House.[18]

Natalie Bassingthwaighte has recorded an "Australian version" of the Mariah Carey song "Hero" which accompanied the "Heroes 08" promotional video and other World Cup advertising. The World Cup Opening Ceremony will feature a ive performance of the song by Bassingthwaighte.[18]

Filming of visuals for the promotional video began in Leeds during the world-wide ticketing launch for the event in November 2007.[18]

Advertising agency MJW, celebrity photographer Garry Heery and production company Engine, worked together to combine the latest digital animation with a dark and determined set that highlighted the passion players feel in representing their country on the international stage.[18]

The Heroes campaign featured Mark Gasnier (Australia), Roy Asotasi (New Zealand), Rob Burrow (England), Keith Peters (PNG), Waisale Suka (Fiji), Nigel Vagana (Samoa), Jerome Guisset (France), Lee Paterson (Scotland), Stuart Littler (Ireland) and Lopini Paea (Tonga).[18] Gasnier was later removed from some of the promotional material after he left the sport mid-season and replaced by Cameron Smith.

Broadcasting

Television

The 2008 RLWC had 26 separate television deals taking coverage to 127 countries and generating more than $20 million income[19]. Channel 9 will broadcast all Group A matches and the Knockout Stage matches in Australia - delayed in a cynical move to squeeze in more ads. Fox Sports will broadcast all Group B and C matches plus Ranking Stage matches live. In the United Kingdom, Sky Sports will broadcast all matches live[20], because of this all will be shown in the morning, some as early as 06:00AM[21]. Sky Sports will also show all games live across New Zealand. Mai TV will broadcast all matches live in Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa, Cook Islands and the Solomon Islands[22]. Orange Sport will provide coverage of all matches live in France.

Coverage of the competition will also extend to countries not taking part. Showtime will show all matches live across the Middle East. G will offer coverage of all games in many countries in Africa. Astro will show all matches in Malaysia and finally ESPN 360 will be showing all matches in the United States.

The only participating country with no television coverage of the matches is Tonga, however the RLIF are hoping to secure a deal before the World Cup starts.

BigPondTV, an online television station, will be broadcasting all matches live and will also repeat matches, this service is available to everyone for free.

Radio

Criticism

Due to the generally poor response of the 2000 World Cup, there were several key criticisms of the tournament before any matches had kicked off. The RLIF were forced to defend the credibility of the tournament in October 2007 after New Zealand, one of the favourites for the competition, were heavily beaten in a Test match 58-0 in Wellington against Australia[23]. Another criticism was whether there would be enough competitiveness throughout the ten teams, with some fans hoping they won't see too many one-sided matches[24], which was a common sight in the Group Stages of the 2000 tournament[25].


Matches

See also: 2008 Rugby League World Cup Matches

All teams from group A (shaded in green) with the exception of the bottom qualifying team will progress to the semi-finals, the other two groups the top finisher will progress to a playoff match, in which the winner will qualify to the semi-finals.

Group A

Template:RLWC08 PoolA

25 October 2008
England  32 – 22  Papua New Guinea
(report)
Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville
Attendance: 10,780
Referee: Shayne Hayne Australia
26 October 2008
Australia  30 – 6  New Zealand
Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
Attendance: 34,157 [26]
Referee: Ashley Klein England
1 November 2008
New Zealand  48 – 6  Papua New Guinea
Skilled Park, Gold Coast
Attendance: 11,278 [27]
Referee: Steve Ganson England
2 November 2008
Australia  v  England
Telstra Dome, Melbourne
Referee: Tony Archer Australia

Group B

Template:RLWC08 PoolB

26 October 2008
Scotland  18 – 36  France
(report)
Canberra Stadium, Canberra
Attendance: 9,287 [28]
Referee: Leon Williamson New Zealand
1 November 2008
France  6 – 42  Fiji
WIN Stadium, Wollongong
Attendance: 9213 [29]
Referee: Ashley Klein England
5 November 2008
Fiji  v  Scotland
Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
Referee: Leon Williamson New Zealand

Group C

Template:RLWC08 PoolC

27 October 2008
Ireland  20 – 22  Tonga
(report)
Parramatta Stadium, Sydney
Attendance: 6,165[30]
Referee: Steve Ganson England
31 October 2008
Tonga  12 – 20  Samoa
(report)
CUA Stadium, Penrith
Attendance: 11,787 [31]
Referee: Shayne Hayne Australia
5 November 2008
Ireland  v  Samoa
Parramatta Stadium, Sydney
Referee: Thierry Alibert France

7th Place Playoff

8 November 2008
2nd Group B v 2nd Group C

9th Place Playoff

9 November 2008
3rd Group B v 3rd Group C

Knockout Stage

Qualifying Final Semi-Final Final
         
2nd Group A
3rd Group A
 
 
1st Group A
Winner Qualifying Final
1st Group B
1st Group C

Qualifying Final

10 November 2008
1st Group B v 1st Group C

Semi-Finals

15 November 2008
2nd Group A v 3rd Group A
16 November 2008
1st Group A v Winner Qualifying Final

Final

22 November 2008
v

Sources

References

  1. ^ Rugby League World Cup 2008 Past Winners
  2. ^ Rugby League World Cup - The Road To 2008
  3. ^ BBC SPORT | RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CUP 2000 | WORLD CUP 2000 | McDonald defends World Cup
  4. ^ Lewis backs Australia for World Cup - Telegraph
  5. ^ Rugby League European Federation - Rugby League News Archive
  6. ^ Rugby League World Cup 2008 Official Web Site
  7. ^ Rugby League World Cup 2008
  8. ^ {{"England Cup side not afraid of the grapple tackle". www.news.com.au. 2008-10-21. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
  9. ^ "RFL trio head to the Rugby League World Cup". sportfocus.com. 2008-10-08. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
  10. ^ "Referees in pink for charity". Rugby League International Federation. 2008-07-18. Retrieved 2008-10-28.
  11. ^ Papua New Guinea Threaten Boycott
  12. ^ "RLWC08 - Schedule Finalised". NRL. 2007-10-04. Retrieved 2007-10-04.
  13. ^ ARL - Tickets On Sale
  14. ^ Pilbeam Tickets
  15. ^ Ticketek Tickets
  16. ^ 25,000 Final Tickets Sold
  17. ^ http://www.rlwc08.com/sponsors/default.aspx
  18. ^ a b c d e "Media Release: Heroes 08 Campaign Launched". Rugby League International Federation. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
  19. ^ http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/national/national/sport/world-cup-goes-back-to-its-roots/1343170.aspx
  20. ^ Sky Sports Broadcasting Bid
  21. ^ UK Broadcasting
  22. ^ Pacific Broadcasting
  23. ^ Kiwi Pre-WC Criticism
  24. ^ Competitiveness Pre-WC Criticism
  25. ^ 2000 WC Overview
  26. ^ http://www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague/reports/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=rleague/08/10/26/RUGBYL_Australia.html
  27. ^ http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,24588256-23214,00.html
  28. ^ http://www.rleague.com/db/article.php?id=31780
  29. ^ http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,20797,24587338-5016947,00.html?from=public_rss
  30. ^ http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24561489-5016312,00.html
  31. ^ http://www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=rleague/08/10/31/manual_101713.html
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