New Zealand stay top of world rankings
The RLIF have released the latest set of international rankings, which sees New Zealand stay in number one position, despite losing the Test series 201 against England in the autumn.
But it is some of the developing rugby league nations who have most cause to cheer the new rankings.
Serbia have risen to 11 from 14th place, boosting morale ahead of their World Cup qualifying play-offs in 2016.
“Serbia’s end of the year ranking tells a story of the seasons behind us,” said Serbia Rugby League vice-president Nebojsa Sretenovic.
“Our squads in 2015 have been almost exclusively drawn from our domestic competition and I congratulate our players and the coaching staff for their results against countries that played in the last World Cup.
“The ranking gives us much motivation going into next year which will be our most important to date.”
Another country to rise in the rankings are Jamaica, who recently played off against USA and Canada for a place at the 2017 World Cup.
While they were unsuccessful in that attempt, losing to the USA and drawing with Canada, Jamaica Rugby League director of rugby Romeo Monteith is optimistic about the future.
“We are happy with our performances against the world number 10 and 13 ranked teams in the qualifiers,” he said.
“We need an America’s cup to move the sport forward in our region and all the nations, along with the RLIF, are working hard to provide a clear international calendar here.”
WORLD RANKINGS
1 (1) New Zealand
2 (2) Australia
3 (3) England
4 (4) Samoa
5 (5) France
6 (7) Ireland
7 (6) Fiji
8 (9) Wales
9 (8) Scotland
10 (10) USA
11 (14) Serbia
12 (12) Italy
13 (13) Canada
14 (11) PNG
15 (16) Russia
16 (15) Tonga
17 (18) Belgium
18 (23) Malta
19 (19) Germany
20 (20) Lebanon
21 (26) Spain
22 (17) Cook Islands
23 (22) Ukraine
24 (24) Greece
25 (27) Denmark
26 (21) Norway
27 (29) Jamaica
28 (25) Netherlands
29 (31) Sweden
30 (30) Czech Republic
31 (28) South Africa
32 (32) Niue
33 (33) Hungary
34 (34) Latvia
35 (35) Morocco