# 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s

The 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s was the first staging of the Rugby League World Cup 9s tournament and took place on 18 and 19 October 2019 at Sydney's Bankwest Stadium. The tournament featured teams from 12 International Rugby League member countries, 4 of which also fielded teams in the women's tournament. In the men's final, Australia defeated New Zealand, while in the women's final, New Zealand defeated Australia.

## Rule variations

The standard rules of rugby league applied but with the following variations:
* games are nine-a-side with unlimited interchanges in the 13-strong squad
* each half is nine minutes with a 2-minute half time
* the tackle count for the team in possession is five rather than six
* any player sin-binned is off the field for only three minutes
* the 40/20 rule is supplemented by a 20/40 rule i.e. a kick from behind the player's own 20m line which after bouncing goes into touch past the opponent's 40m line will result in the kicking team retaining possession with a tap-restart
* Bonus zone tries - tries score four points as normal but the value of the try will be increased to five for a try scored in the area between the goalposts
* all conversions are drop kicks rather than place kicks and a 25-second shot clock will apply
* a game which goes to extra time will be decided by golden try extra time

## Teams

The competing teams were hand picked, and the selections were announced on 22 April 2019.
On 27 September 2019, the Tonga National Rugby League were suspended by the International Rugby League (IRL), pending an investigation into their board. Tonga were represented at the tournament by a "Tonga Invitatonal" team.

### Men's

| Team | Captain | Coach | IRL rank |
| Australia | Wade Graham | Mal Meninga | 1 |
| Cook Islands | Alex Glenn | Tony Iro | 28 |
| England | James Graham | Wayne Bennett | 2 |
| Fiji | Kevin Naiqama | Brandon Costin | 5 |
| France | Jason Baitieri | Aurélien Cologni | 6 |
| Lebanon | Reece Robinson | Rick Stone | 9 |
| New Zealand | Shaun Johnson | Michael Maguire | 3 |
| Papua New Guinea | Rhyse Martin | Michael Marum | 10 |
| Samoa | Joseph Leilua | Matt Parish | 7 |
| Tonga Invitational | Jason Taumalolo | David Tangata-Toa | 4 |
| United States | Mark Offerdahl | Sean Rutgerson | 15 |
| Wales | Elliot Kear | John Kear | 11 |

### Women's

| Team | Captain | Coach | IRL rank |
| Australia | Ali Brigginshaw | Brad Donald | 1 |
| England | Emily Rudge | Craig Richards | 3 |
| New Zealand | Honey Hireme | Justin Morgan | 2 |
| Papua New Guinea | Janet Johns | Bagelo Solien | 6 |

## Match Officials

The NRL named the following 18 NRL match officials to handle the 28 matches.
* Grant Atkins
* Tyson Brough
* Matt Cecchin
* Ben Cummins
* Darian Furner
* Adam Gee
* Peter Gough
* Phil Henderson
* Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski
* Belinda Sharpe
* Todd Smith
* Jon Stone
* Chris Sutton
* Gerard Sutton
* Chris Kendall
* Stephane Vincent
* Henry Perenara
* Paki Parkinson

## Venue

| Sydney | Sydney |
| Bankwest Stadium | Sydney |
| Capacity: 30,000 | Sydney |

## Men's tournament
### Pool stage

The pools were announced on 22 July 2019. The draw was announced on 4 August 2019.
| Pool A | Pool B | Pool C |
| Australia New Zealand Papua New Guinea United States | England France Lebanon Wales | Tonga Invitational Cook Islands Fiji Western Samoa |

#### Pool A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Australia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 92 | 23 | +69 | 6 | Advance to knockout stages |
| 2 | New Zealand | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 76 | 42 | +34 | 4 | Advance to knockout stages |
| 3 | Papua New Guinea | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 44 | 54 | −10 | 2 | |
| 4 | United States | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 114 | −93 | 0 | |
| 18 October 2019 | Australia | 25 – 12 | New Zealand |
| 18 October 2019 | Papua New Guinea | 27 – 10 | United States |
| 19 October 2019 | New Zealand | 18 – 17 | Papua New Guinea |
| 19 October 2019 | Australia | 41 – 11 | United States |
| 19 October 2019 | New Zealand | 46 – 0 | United States |
| 19 October 2019 | Australia | 26 – 0 | Papua New Guinea |

#### Pool B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | England | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 76 | 24 | +52 | 4 | Advance to knockout stages |
| 2 | Lebanon | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 42 | 46 | −4 | 4 | |
| 3 | France | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 35 | 56 | −21 | 2 | |
| 4 | Wales | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 35 | 62 | −27 | 2 | |
Lebanon were stripped of their win over France due to fielding an ineligible player.
| 18 October 2019 | France | 8 – 12 | Lebanon |
| 18 October 2019 | England | 25 – 4 | Wales |
| 19 October 2019 | France | 23 – 6 | Wales |
| 19 October 2019 | England | 13 – 16 | Lebanon |
| 19 October 2019 | Lebanon | 14 – 25 | Wales |
| 19 October 2019 | England | 38 – 4 | France |

#### Pool C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Samoa | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 73 | 41 | +32 | 6 | Advance to knockout stages |
| 2 | Cook Islands | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 46 | 34 | +12 | 4 | |
| 3 | Tonga Invitational | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 48 | 71 | −23 | 2 | |
| 4 | Fiji | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 44 | 65 | −21 | 0 | |
| 18 October 2019 | Tonga Invitational | 7 – 30 | Cook Islands |
| 18 October 2019 | Samoa | 32 – 17 | Fiji |
| 19 October 2019 | Samoa | 17 – 4 | Cook Islands |
| 19 October 2019 | Tonga Invitational | 21 – 17 | Fiji |
| 19 October 2019 | Fiji | 10 – 12 | Cook Islands |
| 19 October 2019 | Tonga Invitational | 20 – 24 | Samoa |

### Knockout stage

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| A1 | Australia | 25 | | | |
| C1 | Samoa | 8 | | | |
| C1 | Samoa | 8 | Australia | Australia | 24 |
| | | | New Zealand | New Zealand | 10 |
| A2 | New Zealand | 22 | New Zealand | New Zealand | 10 |
| B1 | England | 6 | | | |

#### Semi-finals
##### New Zealand vs England

* 19 October 2019 18:55 AEST (UTC+10)
| New Zealand | 22 – 6 | England |
| Tries: Isaako (5', 14') 2 Maumalo (2') 1 Smith (10') 1 Goals: Isaako 3/4 (2', 10', 14) | 1st: 10 – 0 2nd: 12 – 6 | Tries: 1 (12') McGillvary Goals: 1/1 Austin (12') |
* Bankwest Stadium, Sydney Referee: Ben Cummins (Australia)

##### Australia vs Samoa

* 19 October 2019 19:20 AEST (UTC+10)
| Australia | 25 – 8 | Samoa |
| Tries: Ponga (1') 1 Addo-Carr (7') 1 Brimson (14') 1 Frizell (16') 1 Goals: Moses 2/2 (15', 17') Cherry-Evans 1/2 (1') | 1st: 11 – 4 2nd: 14 – 4 | Tries: 2 (5', 11') Seve Goals: 0/2 Lafai |
* Bankwest Stadium, Sydney Referee: Chris Kendall (England)

#### Final: Australia v New Zealand

* 19 October 2019 21:00 AEST (UTC+10)
| Australia | 24 – 10 | New Zealand |
| Tries: Moses (5', 7', 17') 3 Feldt (14') 1 Goals: Moses 3/4 (5', 7', 17') | 1st: 13 – 10 2nd: 11 – 0 | Tries: 1 (2') Smith 1 (6') Isaako Goals: 1/2 Isaako (6') |
* Bankwest Stadium, Sydney Referee: Chris Kendall (England)

## Women's tournament
### Pool stage

The draw was announced on 4 August 2019.
* Pool A
* Australia England New Zealand Papua New Guinea
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Australia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 94 | 18 | +76 | 6 | Advance to Final |
| 2 | New Zealand | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 65 | 38 | +27 | 4 | Advance to Final |
| 3 | England | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 33 | 79 | −46 | 2 | |
| 4 | Papua New Guinea | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 22 | 79 | −57 | 0 | |
| 18 October 2019 | England | 25 – 4 | Papua New Guinea |
| 18 October 2019 | Australia | 22 – 8 | New Zealand |
| 19 October 2019 | New Zealand | 24 – 12 | Papua New Guinea |
| 19 October 2019 | Australia | 42 – 4 | England |
| 19 October 2019 | Australia | 30 – 6 | Papua New Guinea |
| 19 October 2019 | New Zealand | 33 – 4 | England |

### Final: Australia v New Zealand

* 19 October 2019 19:45 AEST (UTC+10)
| Australia | 15 – 17 | New Zealand |
| Tries: Penitani (1') 1 Apps (5') 1 McGregor (11') 1 Goals: Dibb 1/2 (11') Tungai 0/1 | 1st: 8 – 7 2nd: 7 – 10 | Tries: 1 (3') McGregor 1 (10') Newman 1 (13') Maynard Goals: 2/2 McGregor (3', 13') 0/1 Nicholls-Pualau |
* Bankwest Stadium, Sydney Referee: Henry Perenara (New Zealand)

## Try scorers
### Men's
#### 7

* Jamayne Isaako

#### 5

* Ken Maumalo

#### 4

* Josh Addo-Carr
* Kyle Feldt
* Mitchell Moses

#### 3

* Robert Jennings
* Sione Katoa
* Bilal Maarbani
* Marion Seve
* Reimis Smith
* Maika Tudravu

#### 2

* Dean Blore
* AJ Brimson
* Nathan Brown
* Mike Butt
* Jake Connor
* David Fifita
* Edene Gebbie
* Anthony Gelling
* Campbell Graham
* Ash Handley
* Kayal Iro
* Shaun Johnson
* Elliot Kear
* Moses Leota
* Danny Levi
* Gavin Marguerite
* Jermaine McGillvary
* Travis Robinson
* Bailey Simonsson
* Sam Tomkins
* Brian To'o

#### 1

* Stargroth Amean
* Tevin Arona
* Jai Arrow
* Blake Austin
* Lambert Belmas
* Watson Boas
* Ryan Burroughs
* Daly Cherry-Evans
* Daryl Clark
* Alrix Da Costa
* William Fakatoumafi
* Bureta Faraimo
* Kristian Freed
* Tyson Frizell
* Regan Grace
* Clinton Gutherson
* Ryan Hall
* Tim Lafai
* Thomas Lasvenes
* Joseva Lawalawa
* Kyle Laybutt
* Penaia Leveleve
* Garry Lo
* Jarome Luai
* Paul Marcon
* Jeremy Marshall-King
* Steven Marsters
* Kevin Naiqama
* Tesi Niu
* David Nofoaluma
* Justin Olam
* Tevita Pangai Junior
* Ryan Papenhuyzen
* Kalyn Ponga
* John Puna
* Nixon Putt
* Selestino Ravutaumada
* Reubenn Rennie
* Reece Robinson
* Arthur Romano
* Dan Russell
* Ligi Sao
* Maika Sivo
* Ryan Sutton
* Brody Tamarua
* Charbel Tasipale
* Aaron Teroi
* Junior Vaivai
* Malakai Watene-Zelezniak
* Lloyd White
* Elliott Whitehead
* Gareth Widdop

### Women's
#### 5

* Tiana Penitani

#### 4

* Honey Hireme
* Corban McGregor

#### 3

* Jules Newman

#### 2

* Ali Brigginshaw
* Isabelle Kelly
* Rhiannon Marshall
* Nita Maynard
* Raecene McGregor
* Ua Ravu
* Krystal Rota
* Kiana Takairangi
* Shakiah Tungai

#### 1

* Elsie Albert
* Kezie Apps
* Caitlin Beevers
* Leah Burke
* Keeley Davis
* Amy Hardcastle
* Janet Johns
* Kanyon Paul
* Julia Robinson
* Emily Rudge
* Jessica Sergis
* Hannah Southwell
* Atawhai Tupaea
* Georgia Wilson

## Controversy

On 19 October 2019, Lebanon's Jacob Kiraz and Jordan Samrani and Papua New Guinea women's players Sera Koroi and Joyce Waula were all suspended from the tournament for being under the age of 18.
While the International Rugby League allows players 16 or older to play in Test matches, the National Rugby League (who ran the tournament) rules require that players must be 18 or older.
Kiraz, who would not turn 18 until November 2019, was the only one of the four to play a game, coming off the bench in Lebanon's 12–8 win over France. Lebanon were stripped of the two competition points earned for their win as a result.

## Media coverage

| Country or region | Broadcaster | Broadcasting |
| Australia | Fox Sports | All 28 matches live (via Fox League or streamed on Kayo Sports) |
| Australia | NRL Live Pass | All 28 matches live streamed |
| Brazil | Watch NRL | All 28 matches live streamed |
| Canada | Watch NRL | All 28 matches live streamed |
| China | Watch NRL | All 28 matches live streamed |
| Cook Islands | Digicel | All 28 matches live |
| Cook Islands | OVOPlay | All 28 matches live streamed |
| Germany | Watch NRL | All 28 matches live streamed |
| Fiji | Digicel | All 28 matches live |
| Fiji | Fiji FBC | All 28 matches live streamed |
| Fiji | OVOPlay | All 28 matches live streamed |
| France | OVOPlay | All 28 matches live streamed |
| France | Watch NRL | All 28 matches live streamed |
| Ireland | Sky Sports | All 28 matches live |
| Ireland | Watch NRL | All 28 matches live streamed |
| Japan | Watch NRL | All 28 matches live streamed |
| Lebanon | OVOPlay | All 28 matches live streamed |
| Lebanon | Watch NRL | All 28 matches live streamed |
| New Zealand | Sky (New Zealand) | All 28 matches live |
| Papua New Guinea | Digicel | All 28 matches live |
| Papua New Guinea | OVOPlay | All 28 matches live streamed |
| Samoa | Digicel | All 28 matches live |
| Samoa | OVOPlay | All 28 matches live streamed |
| South Africa | Watch NRL | All 28 matches live streamed |
| Tonga | Digicel | All 28 matches live |
| Tonga | OVOPlay | All 28 matches live streamed |
| United Kingdom | Sky Sports | All 28 matches live |
| United Kingdom | Watch NRL | All 28 matches live streamed |
| United States | OVOPlay | All 28 matches live streamed |
| United States | Watch NRL | All 28 matches live streamed |