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LONDON — Canada received a decent draw Thursday for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.
The fifth-ranked Canadian women landed in Group A with host England (No. 3), Papua New Guinea (No. 4) and Brazil (No. 13), escaping former champion New Zealand (No. 2) which went into Pool B alongside title-holder Australia (No. 1), France (No. 6) and the Cook Islands (No. 7).
England and Australia were the seeded teams for the draw. The top two in each pool advance to the semifinals of the women’s competition. New Zealand won the first three editions of the tournament and was runner-up to Australia in 2013 and ’17.
The Rugby League World Cup, which includes men’s, women’s and wheelchair competitions, runs Oct. 23 to Nov. 27, 2021.
At the 2017 women’s tournament in Australia, a fledgling Canada side lost 50-4 to New Zealand before beating Papua New Guinea 22-8 for its first ever international win. The Canadian women finished the pool stage with an 88-0 loss to Australia. They were then beaten again, 58-6, by Australia in the semifinals.
Prince Harry took part in Thursday’s draw at Buckingham Palace in his first public engagement since the news that he and wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, plan to step back from their royal duties and spend time in Canada.
The Duke of Sussex has been involved in the sport as a patron of the Rugby Football League since December 2016 when he succeeded the Queen, who had held the role for 64 year.
Harry was assisted by former England rugby union/league star Jason Robinson and Dame Katherine Grainger, a former Olympic champion rower and current chair of UK Sport.
“It’s an honour to be standing next to two sporting legends,” he said.
Harry, the driving force behind the Invictus Games, also talked about the power of sport before pulling balls out of a pot to kick off the draw.
“Whether it’s rugby league or sport in general, given the opportunity it needs to be in everybody’s life, if possible,” he said.
Canada was represented at the draw by Mandy Marchak, a 35-year-old international from Winnipeg, who now calls Victoria home. Marchak captained Canada at the 2017 tournament, which represented her sixth World Cup. She also competed at the 2006, 2010 and 2014 rugby union World Cups and the 2009 and ’13 Sevens World Cup.
Sixteen teams will contest the men’s title.
Group A features England, Samoa, France and Greece while Group B consists of defending champion Australia, Fiji, Scotland and Italy. Group C is made up of New Zealand, Lebanon, Jamaica and Ireland while Group D is Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Wales and the Cook Islands.
The top two in each group advance to the quarterfinals. England will play Samoa in the opening match of the tournament at St James’ Park in Newcastle on Oct. 23.
The eight quarterfinalists from the 2017 tournament qualified automatically with the other eight berths decided in regional qualifying. Jamaica won the North American men’s qualifier, which also featured Canada, Chile and the U.S. The runner-up Americans then lost a playoff to the Cook Islands.
Eight teams including defending champion France will contest the wheelchair tournament.
France is in Group B with Wales, Scotland and the U.S. Group A is made up of England, Australia, Spain and Norway.
A rugby league team is made up of 13 players with four on the bench. Each team is only allowed six tackles (plays) before the ball changes hands. A try is worth four points and a conversion two.
Rugby union teams are made up of 15 starters with eight substitutes. Play is more continuous and a try is worth five points and a conversion two.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 16, 2020.
The Canadian Press