International Rugby League has announced that the Men\u2019s, Women\u2019s and Wheelchair World Cups will continue to be played together, with the three disciplines to again be staged concurrently in 2030.<\/p>\n
A meeting of the IRL Board on Tuesday decided that the 2030 World Cup should maintain the same format as RLWC26 in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, in which the Men\u2019s, Women\u2019s and Wheelchair tournaments are being staged concurrently.<\/p>\n
The IRL Board had agreed in 2023 to separate the tournaments and initiated an Invitation to Tender (ITT) process for Women\u2019s Rugby League World Cup 2028, Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup 2029 and Men\u2019s Rugby League World Cup 2030.<\/p>\n
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Rugby League World Cup draw announced on Channel 7<\/p>\n
IRL received 13 confirmed tenders for the three events and has been reviewing the bids.<\/p>\n
IRL Chair Troy Grant said: \u201cThrough the ITT process, which attracted significant interest, we did not believe that represented the proper value for each of those genres as standalone competitions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe IRL was also overwhelmed with feedback from members, players and administrators, who felt that we have a unique forum where the three genres of our game are played together.<\/p>\n
“That allows us a unique opportunity to bring the rugby league family together by keeping the three World Cups as the one event.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe IRL Board has decided that the World Cups for 2030 will be Men\u2019s, Women\u2019s and Wheelchair, so there will no longer be a standalone Women\u2019s World Cup in 2028 and standalone Wheelchair World Cup in 2029.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look forward to continuing what was started at RLWC21 in England in 2022 as a very unique sporting offering, in that we are the only sport that offers Men\u2019s, Women\u2019s and Wheelchair World Cups at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Match Highlights: France v England<\/p>\n
The decision was endorsed at the IRL Annual General Meeting on Thursday and work will now begin on the qualifying process for Men\u2019s, Women\u2019s and Wheelchair teams ahead of RLWC30.<\/p>\n
There were 82 sanctioned international fixtures in 2025, including Men\u2019s World Cup play-offs between France and Jamaica in Albi, and Cook Islands and South Africa in Sydney, and the inaugural Women\u2019s World Series in Canada.<\/p>\n
Fiji won IRL World Series 2025 to claim the eighth and final Women\u2019s World Cup berth after wins over Nigeria and Canada. Ireland also took part in the tournament.<\/p>\n
IRL Chair Troy Grant said: \u201cWe got some excellent feedback in the construct of the 2025 Women\u2019s World Series and that went really well for a first effort with a short lead in time in Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe weren\u2019t able to secure a viable host for the Men\u2019s World Series and qualifications, which is why we reverted to the format we did with a short runway this year, but we are very keen to see that a World Series is held for the Men, as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the Wheelchair game continues to grow, there are also opportunities to invest in other competitions to keep boosting the Wheelchair game.\u201d<\/p>\n