Lebanon and Italy climb in Rugby League world rankings
Wednesday 25 October 2017 12:08, UK
Lebanon have moved up three places in the Rugby League world rankings to 18th and Italy have risen two places to 12th ahead of the 2017 World Cup on Friday.
Cedars head coach Brad Fittler commented: "It's really encouraging news on the verge of the tournament, to hear that we are rising in the rankings. It's a great boost as we go into our group games with Australia, England and France and a further yardstick to measure ourselves by - it gives us encouragement to aim even higher and break into the top 10."
Results in the World Cup could see Australia, co-hosts New Zealand or even England - if they win the World Cup for the first time since 1972 and the Antipodeans both have poor tournaments - end the campaign as the number one ranked nation.
Should they make the quarterfinals, Scotland will most-likely retain their high spot of fourth gained after their showing last year's Four Nations tournament.
The biggest movement is expected to be between positions six and 12 which gives every group game added importance, allied to the fact that the eight quarter-finalists in 2017 will automatically qualify for the 2021 World Cup in England, which will be boosted to 16 nations.
Full Rugby League world rankings: 1 Australia, 2 New Zealand, 3 England, 4 Scotland, 5 Samoa, 6 France, 7 Fiji, 8 Ireland, 9 Wales, 10 USA, 11 Tonga, 12 Italy, 13 Jamaica, 14 Serbia, 15 Canada, 16 Papua New Guinea, 17 Malta, 18 Lebanon, 19 Russia, 20 Belgium, 21 Spain, 22 Norway, 23 Greece, 24 Cook Islands, 25 Ukraine, 26 Czech Republic, 27 Netherlands, 28 Germany, 29 Hungary, 30 Sweden, 31 Niue, 32 Denmark, 33 South Africa, 34 Philippines, 35 Vanuatu, 36 Thailand, 37 Chile, 38 Solomon Islands, 39 El Savador, 40 Uruguay, 41 Bulgaria, 42 Latvia, 43 Morocco
