England and Wales to compete in 12-team Nines World Cup

England and Wales will take part in the Nines World Cup at Bankwest Stadium in October. 

Tournament organisers have announced 12 teams will line-up in the men’s competition, with four women’s sides also taking part in the inaugural event on October 18-19.

Australia are favourites for the tournament, but will face competition from England, Wales, New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, France, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Lebanon, the Cook Islands and the United States.

In the women’s competition, the Australian Jillaroos will be up against England, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

England hooker Josh Hodgson commented: “I think it’s great for the international game.

“I’ve always said the more games we can play the better it’s going to be to grow the game around the world and get the fans really involved.

“The last few years we’ve really seen blokes up their hand up for different nations because they’re really proud to represent their homeland.

“I think that’s really important for the international game and made it really strong and it’s become bigger and stronger in terms of quality.”