IRL World Rankings updated ahead of RLWC26 Draw release

Toa Samoa has leapfrogged Tonga into fourth place in the IRL World Rankings after reaching the final of the Pacific Cup, while Fetu Samoa have continued their rise up the women’s rankings to climb from 12th spot to fifth.

Samoa enjoyed their most successful international campaign since the last World Cup in England in 2022, during which they stunned the host nation in the semi-final in London to qualify for the final against the Kangaroos.

Bolstered by the decision of Payne Haas to represent his mother’s Samoan heritage, the Toa were edged 24-18 by the Kiwis in the opening Pacific Championships match, beat arch-rivals Tonga before a record 44,682 crowd in Brisbane and led 14-6 at half-time in the final but again fell short.

However, the Pacific nation has been rewarded for their performances by climbing from fifth to fourth place in the IRL World Rankings, squeezing Tonga out of the top four ranked teams in the process. Tonga are ranked fifth.  

International Rugby League has announced the updated world rankings ahead of the impending release of the draw for IRL Rugby League World Cup 2026.

Australia remain No.1 in the Men’s and Women’s rankings, while England retain the top Wheelchair spot they have held since defeating France in the final of RLWC21 at Manchester Central.

The Kangaroos beat England 3-0 in The Ashes, while the Jillaroos retained the women’s Pacific Cup and England held off a strong challenge from the Wheelaroos to win the recent Wheelchair Ashes Series in Australia.

New Zealand are No.2 in both the men’s and women’s rankings, ahead of England.

In the men’s rankings, Samoa are fourth, followed by Tonga (5), Papua New Guinea (6), Fiji (7), France (8) and Cook Islands (9)– both of whom recently won World Cup qualifiers for the final two men’s RLWC26 berths.

Lebanon, the other Men’s team qualified for RLWC26, have dropped from 16th to 21st after playing their first sanctioned match since the last World Cup in October and losing 16-14 to Italy with a team which did not include any NRL players.