International Rankings
For more details on this topic, see RLIF World Rankings.The RLIF publishes and maintains the World Rankings of the men's national rugby league teams. The concept was first launched in January 2007 following in the footsteps of the European Rankings published by the Rugby League European Federation.
The RLIF World Rankings are calculated based on an average of points accumulated by each Nation over a three year cycle. Under the structure, matches deemed of higher importance such as World Cup games, Tri-Nations and other major tournament finals draw more points than mid-season Tests and other ‘Internationals’. For each match that a nation participates they are given a base level of points. This base level is affected upon the type of match and the status of the opponent.
Bonus points are given for teams that reach certain milestones deemed of significant international importance including reaching a tournament final or qualifying for an event such as a World Cup.
From the total number of points that a nation will receive these points are then averaged to help give a more accurate view of the performance of a nation over the three year cycle.
Nations which have played less than a certain number of matches deemed acceptable over a three year cycle will be penalised under the current point structure.
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