# 2017 Rugby League World Cup qualification (Europe play-off)

The 2017 Rugby League World Cup Europe qualification play-off was a rugby league match that was played on 4 November 2016 at Leigh Sports Village in England. The match decides who was the final European country to qualify for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, with Italy defeating Russia 76–0.

## Background

On 3 October 2014, the 2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifying competition was announced with three more qualification places being announced for European countries after England, France and Scotland had already qualified courtesy of reaching the 2013 World Cup knock-out stage.
In the final round of European Qualification there were two groups of 3 with the countries that topped both pools advancing straight into the 2017 World Cup while the teams placed second headed into a one-off play-off match held at the Leigh Sports Village to see who will be the 14th and final country to qualify for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.

## Route to match
### Italy

Italy qualified for the play-off match after finishing second in group A. They were almost in no need of a play-off match after being 40 minutes away from causing a shock result over Wales in Monza.
| Opposition | PF | PA | Date | Venue | Attendance |
| Serbia | 62 | 14 | 22 October 2016 | Makiš Stadium, Belgrade | 1,037 |
| Wales | 14 | 20 | 29 October 2016 | Stadio Brianteo, Monza | 839 |

### Russia

Russia qualified for the play-off match after finishing second in group B.
| Opposition | PF | PA | Date | Venue | Attendance |
| Spain | 40 | 6 | 15 October 2016 | Fili Stadium, Moscow | 427 |
| Ireland | 16 | 70 | 29 October 2016 | Carlisle Grounds, Bray | 867 |

## Squads
### Italy

Head coach: Cameron Ciraldo
Italy named a 19-man squad.
| Club | Player |
| Blacktown Workers | Dean Parata |
| Brianza Tigers | Patrik Ziliotti |
| Cairns Brothers | Joel Riethmuller |
| Canterbury Bulldogs | Joe Tramontana |
| Cronulla Sharks | Jayden Walker |
| Hull Kingston Rovers | Terry Campese, Josh Mantellato |
| Lézignan Corbieres | Christophe Calegari |
| Lions Brescia | Giuseppe Pagani |
| Mackay Cutters | Gavin Hiscox |
| Newcastle Thunder | Gioele Celerino |
| Northern Pride | Justin Castellaro, Ryan Ghietti, Col Wilkie |
| North Queensland Cowboys | Kieran Quabba |
| Oldham | Richard Lepori |
| Sacramento Express (RU) | Mirco Bergamasco |
| St. George Illawarra Dragons | Shannon Wakeman |
| South Wales Ironmen | Chris Vitalini |
| Townsville Blackhawks | Brenden Santi |
| Windsor Wolves | Ryan Tramonte |
| Wyong Roos | Chris Centrone |

### Russia

Head coach: Denis Korolev
Russia announced their 29-man squad on 19 September 2016, which was later reduced to a 19-man squad. Similar to Italy, Russia was unchanged from the initial World Cup qualifiers.
| Club | Player |
| CSKA Moscow | Kirill Kosharin |
| Dinamo | Viacheslav Eremin, Andrey Kuznetsov |
| Ivanovo White Sharks (RU) | Ivan Troitskii |
| RC Lokomotiv Moscow | Vadim Buryak, Leonid Kalinin, Maxim Tsinkovich |
| Nara | Petr Botnarash, Mikhail Burlutskii, Sergey Gaponov, Anatoly Grigorev, Sergei Konstantinov, Aleksandr Lysokon, Maksim Suchkov, Denis Tiulenev, Vladimir Vlasyuk, Nikolay Zagoskin |
| Moscow Fili | Anton Iunisov, Iustin Petrushka |
| Moscow Storm | Dmitry Bratko, Igor Chuprin, Vadim Fedchuk |

## Match
### Details

* 4 November 2016 20:00 GMT (UTC+0:00)
| Italy | 76–0 | Russia |
| Tries: Castellaro (2), Cerruto (2), Lepori (2), Wilkie (2), Campese, Celerino, Centrone, Santi, Wakeman, Walker Goals: Campese (10/14) | Report (RLIF) | |
* Leigh Sports Village, Leigh Attendance: 450 Referee: Chris Campbell (England) Player of the Match: Terry Campese (Italy)
| FB | 1 | Mason Cerruto |
| WG | 2 | Chris Centrone |
| CE | 3 | Justin Castellaro |
| CE | 4 | Colin Wilkie |
| WG | 5 | Richard Lepori |
| FE | 6 | Terry Campese |
| HB | 7 | Ryan Ghietti |
| PR | 8 | Shannon Wakeman |
| HK | 9 | Dean Parata |
| PR | 10 | Gavin Hiscox |
| SR | 11 | Jayden Walker |
| SR | 12 | Brenden Santi |
| LK | 13 | Joel Riethmuller |
| Substitutes: ||
| BE | 14 | Joseph Tramontana |
| BE | 15 | Ryan Tramonte |
| BE | 16 | Giuseppe Pagani |
| BE | 17 | Gioele Celerino |
| Coach: ||
| Cameron Ciraldo ||
| FB | 2 | Maksim Suchkov |
| WG | 14 | Vadim Tsynkovich |
| CE | 3 | Leonid Kalinin |
| CE | 1 | Nikolay Zagoskin |
| WG | 5 | Vadim Buryak |
| SO | 6 | Aleksandr Lysokon |
| SH | 7 | Denis Tiulenev |
| PR | 16 | Vadim Fedchuk |
| HK | 9 | Vladimir Vlasyuk |
| PR | 10 | Ivan Troitskii |
| SR | 11 | Andrey Kuznetsov |
| SR | 12 | Mikhail Burlutskii |
| LF | 13 | Viacheslav Eremin |
| Substitutes: ||
| BE | 8 | Sergei Konstantinov |
| BE | 17 | Igor Chuprin |
| BE | 18 | Dmitry Bratko |
| Coach: ||
| Denis Korolev ||

## Post-match

With the win Italy became the 14th, and final, team to qualify for the 2017 World Cup.