International series in major doubt as NRL clubs intervene and ‘refuse’ to allow players to feature

Next month’s scheduled international series between France and Lebanon appears to be in doubt, with the first of the two games between the pair now cancelled due to NRL clubs not releasing their Lebanese players.

Les Blues had been scheduled to take on the Cedars twice, on October 13 in Pamiers and on October 19 in Albi, in preparation for the European Qualifiers for the World Series later in the month.

But that first clash in Pamiers has now appears to have been removed from the calendar, and as a result, the latter game in Albi is now in danger of following suit.

The cancellation comes, according to reports in France, because clubs Down Under have refused to allow their Lebanese players permission to play on October 13, which comes exactly a week after the NRL Grand Final.

A representative of the club in Pamiers whose ground was set to host the first clash between France and Lebanon expressed their discontent at the cancellation speaking to news outlet La Depeche.

Christophe Tonnelle said: “We had reversed our championship (league) matches to play as the opener to the international game, so this is a cancellation that falls badly.

“After two years of enormous work and great financial efforts, we had hoped to make the arrival of the French national team a major event only for it to be postponed.”

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Love Rugby League understands France are still set to host the European Qualifiers next month, but may well go into those on the back of no warm-up games, which the two-match ‘series’ against Lebanon would have provided.

The schedule for those qualifiers is as follows:

• October 22: France vs Ukraine – Carcassonne (SF1)
• October 22: Wales v Serbia – Carcassonne (SF2)
• October 26: Winner of SF1 v Winner of SF2 – Perpignan (Final)

Whichever of the four nations involves wins the competition will progress into next year’s ‘World Series’, which will determine who takes the last two spots at the 2026 Rugby League World Cup.

Jamaica, the Cook Islands and South Africa have already confirmed their spots in the World Series, with the winner of next month’s European qualifying tournament taking the last spot.

When the World Series comes around, it is set to be played out in a round-robin group format with the winners and runners-up taking those last two spots at the World Cup in 2026.

Love Rugby League have contacted the IRL for comment.

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