Canada national rugby league team

Rugby league was first introduced to Canada in the 1900s but was quickly outlawed by Rugby Union officials and thus became Canadian Football. It was not until the late 1980s that rugby league was re-introduced to Canada at an amateur level, when a short-lived 4-team domestic competition, known as the Tri-Counties Rugby League, was established. Four teams competed in its first year, three in Canada and one in the U.S., the New York–based Adirondacks club.^[1]

The Canadian national team played their first game in 1987 against the USA. They then played sporadically throughout the 1990s and participated in the 1995 and '96 Rugby League World Sevens and Rugby League Emerging Nations World Cup in 2000. Following the 2000 Emerging Nations World Cup, the Canadian Rugby League Federation folded. As a result, the national team was disbanded and the sport remained dormant for 10 years.

 

In 2010, a new governing body, Canada Rugby League, was formed. Their first comeback game was in 2010 in the War at the Shore tournament, where they played New England Immortals, a New England representative team, and the New York Knights AMNRL club team, losing both games.^[2] The team's international comeback was later in the year in September in the inaugural Colonial Cup.^[3] Later that year they competed in the Rugby League Atlantic Cup in Jacksonville, Florida.

Canada's first win since they were reformed came the following year in 2011 against Jamaica. They collected their second win in September, against the US in the second game of the Colonial Cup. However, due to an earlier loss to the US and the resulting aggregate scores, Canada was unable to win the Cup. Canada's international season finished up with a defeat against South Africa, in a warm up game before their 2013 World Cup qualifiers campaign.

In 2014, Stuart Donlan was appointed as head coach.^[4] Donlan's first game was the 2014 Colonial Cup's only fixture. He coached Canada to a famous victory which made them the Colonial Cup champions for the very first time.^[5] Aaron Zimmerle, the head coach of the Tweed Heads Seagulls, took over the main coaching role in 2015 in their 2017 World Cup qualifying campaign.^[6]

After failing to qualify for the 2017 World Cup, the Canada Rugby League Board appointed Benjamin Fleming as coach on a three-year deal. Canada Rugby League Association Vice President David Graham said "the board's decision to appoint Fleming as Head Coach was based on the hard work and passion he has shown since returning to the association last year."

Canada squad for March 1, 2024 match against the USA Hawks.^[7]

IRL Men's World Rankings v t e
Official rankings as of 30 June 2024
Rank	Change	Team	Pts %
1		Australia	100
2		New Zealand	82
3		England	80
4		Samoa	67
5		Tonga	49
6	1	Fiji	47
7	1	Papua New Guinea	46
8		France	28
9		Lebanon	22
10		Cook Islands	20
11		Serbia	19
12		Netherlands	17
13		Italy	15
14	1	Greece	15
15	1	Malta	14
16		Ireland	14
17		Wales	13
18		Jamaica	10
19		Scotland	9
20		Ukraine	7
21		Czech Republic	7
22		Germany	6
23	3	Chile	6
24		Poland	6
25	3	Norway	6
26	1	Kenya	5
27	4	Philippines	5
28	3	South Africa	4
29		Nigeria	4
30		Ghana	4
31	2	United States	4
32	4	Montenegro	4
33	2	Brazil	3
34	2	Turkey	3
35	7	North Macedonia	3
36	2	Bulgaria	3
37	2	Cameroon	2
38	1	Spain	2
39	1	Japan	1
40	1	Albania	1
41	5	Canada	1
42	2	Colombia	1
43	2	El Salvador	1
44	1	Morocco	1
45		Russia	0
46	2	Sweden	0
47	2	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0
48	2	Hungary	0
49	3	Argentina	0
50		Hong Kong	0
51	3	Solomon Islands	0
52	5	Niue	0
53	1	Latvia	0
54	1	Denmark	0
55	6	Belgium	0
56	1	Estonia	0
57	6	Vanuatu	0
Complete rankings at INTRL.SPORT

Below is the head-to-head record of the Canadian national XIII side up to date as of 22 October 2024.^[8][9]

Against	First Played	P	W	L	D	% Won	Last Played	F	A	D
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2019	1	1	0	0	100%	2018	78	2	+76
Chile	2018	1	1	0	0	100%	2018	62	12	+50
England Lionhearts	2012	2	0	2	0	0%	2014	16	102	–86
Fiji	2016	1	0	1	0	0%	2016	12	26	–14
France	1995	1	0	1	0	0%	1995	32	72	–40
Italy	2000	1	0	1	0	0%	2000	6	66	–60
Jamaica	2010	10	6	3	1	60%	2024	238	180	+58
Japan	1999	2	1	1	0	50%	2000	28	26	+2
Lebanon	2012	1	1	0	0	100%	2012	36	18	+18
Serbia	2019	1	0	1	0	0%	2019	8	36	–28
South Africa	2011	1	0	1	0	0%	2011	22	36	–14
United States	1993	28	5	22	1	20.83%	2024	448	914	–466
Total	1993	50	15	33	1	31.11%	2024	986	1,490	–504

World Cup Record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	Win	Draw	Loss
1954	did not enter
1957
1960
1968
1970
1972
1975
1977
1985–88
1989–92
1995
2000	did not qualify
2008
2013
2017
2021
2026

Colonial Cup record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	D
2010	Second place	2/2	1	0	1	0
2011	Second place	2/2	2	1	1	0
2012	Second place	2/2	2	0	2	0
2013	Second place	2/2	4	1	3	0
2014	Champions	1/2	1	1	0	0
2015	Champions	1/2	3	2	1	0
2016	Second place	2/2	2	0	2	0
2017	Second place	2/2	1	0	1	0
2024	Draw	1/2	1	0	0	1
Total	2 Titles	9/9	17	5	11	1

• The Caribbean Carnival Cup is annual series that has been played between Canada and Jamaica since 2011.

Caribbean Cup record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	D
2011	Champions	1/2	1	1	0	0
2012	Champions	1/2	1	1	0	0
2013	Champions	1/2	1	1	0	0
2014	Champions	1/2	1	1	0	0
Total	4 Titles	4/4	4	4	0	0

Atlantic Cup record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	D
2009	Not Invited
2010	Second place	2/3	2	1	1	0
Total	0 Titles	1/2	2	1	1	0

• Toronto Wolfpack
• Rugby league in Canada

• Canada Rugby League Website