Rugby League Unveils New Look Calendar

The new International Rugby League (IRL) calendar has been released, revealing a new location for the Rugby League World Cup 2026 and the reinstatement of The Ashes Test.

Following an IRL meeting in Singapore, the governing body confirmed that the Rugby League World Cup will be held in the southern hemisphere in 2026.

The tournament had been set to take place in France in 2025 but they withdrew after failing to get guaranteed backing from local and national government.

New Zealand had offered to host in 2025 instead, but the IRL has decided to delay by a year to ‘ensure the tournament has the best chance of success.’

It claims that two potential hosts in the southern hemisphere have made bids, which are thought to be from Australia and New Zealand. For now, the IRL is not revealing the bidders’ identity ‘for commercial reasons.’

The 2026 World Cup will feature a pared back men’s tournament, comprising 10 teams with the quarter finalists from RLWC21 – Australia, Samoa, New Zealand, England, Tonga, Fiji, Lebanon, and Papua New Guinea – qualifying automatically.

The IRL has also revealed that from 2028 the women’s World Cup will be a stand alone event to recognise the ‘phenomenal rate of growth’ in the women’s game, and will also likely be hosted in the southern hemisphere.

Outside of the World Cup, England’s men and women teams will tour Australia in 2025 in what will be the first full Ashes series between an England or Great Britain side and Australia since the Kangaroos will be toured in 2003, when they secured a three-game whitewash against GB.

New Zealand will tour England in 2027 and the Kangaroos will return for a full series for the first time in a quarter of a century in 2028.

IRL Chair, Troy Grant, commented, “The IRL board has made these decisions to create more compelling content and secure the financial future of the international game.

“The cancellation of France 2025 has given us an opportunity to refresh the structure of the World Cup and associated tournaments as part of a long-term international calendar that all in the game have been desperately seeking.”