New Zealand on top as England slip down the world rankings

The Kiwis were rated third 12 months ago, behind England and Australia but, following the 2019 international programme, they have climbed to first, with the Kangaroos second and England, who did not play this year, third. Tonga remain fourth and Papua New Guinea, who beat Great Britain 28-10 last weekend, are up three places to sixth.

The top-three in the women’s game is unchanged with Australia ranked number one, ahead of New Zealand and England. Forty-five nations feature in the men’s rankings and 14 for the women. IRL chief executive Nigel Wood congratulated New Zealand on becoming the world number one and insisted: “It is fully deserved based upon their recent excellent performances with four wins from their last five international games.

“Tonga has possibly been the story of the recent internationals and they deserve all the plaudits that they have received. They have certainly cemented their place as a genuine top-four nation and [that], along with other Pacific nations, throws the competition wide open for Rugby League World Cup 2021.”

Kiwi coach Michael Maguire, pictured above, described top spot as a “great honour”, but admitted: “It is good to be recognised, but we know the Kangaroos hold the silverware and that is our ultimate ambition.”

Latest rankings November 2019: Men: 1 New Zealand, 2 Australia, 3 England, 4 Tonga, 5 Fiji, 6 PNG, 7 Samoa, 8 France, 9 Scotland, 10 Lebanon, 11 Greece, 12 Ireland, 13 Italy, 14 Wales, 15 Serbia, 16 Malta, 17 Norway, 18 USA, 19 Poland, 20 Jamaica, 21 Hungary, 22 Czech Republic, 23 Cook Islands, 24 Turkey, 25 Netherlands, 26 Spain, 27 Canada, 28 Nigeria, 29 Solomon Islands, 30 Sweden, 31 Germany, 32 Chile, 33 Ghana, 34 Morocco, 35 Vanuatu, 36 South Africa, 37 Russia, 38 Cameroon, 39 Ukraine, 40 Colombia, 41 Brazil, 42 Belgium, 43 Denmark, 44 Bulgaria, 45 Latvia. Women: 1 Australia, 2 New Zealand, 3 England, 4 PNG, 5 Canada, 6 France, 7 Cook Islands, 8 Italy, 9 Serbia, 10 Fiji, 11 Turkey, 12 Samoa, 13 Brazil, 14 Lebanon.