RLWC 2017 European Qualifiers draw to made in Paris

The RLEF have confirmed that the draw for the 2016 European Qualifiers for the Rugby League World Cup 2017 (RLWC 2017) will take place in Paris on Wednesday November 4 at 5pm GMT.

The seeded draw will create two pools of three nations. These will consist of one country from each group of seeds, giving three teams in total in each group.

The seeding allocation is as follows:

No 1 seeds – Ireland, Wales
No 2 seeds – Serbia, Russia
No 3 seeds – Italy, Spain

Once the two pools are created the positions within each will be allocated – Team A, Team B and Team C – which will give the order of play for the fixtures, with each nation having one home fixture.

The fixtures are scheduled for the following dates:

15-16 October 2016 – A v B
22-23 October 2016 – B v C
29-30 October 2016 – C v A

Each group winner will qualify for RLWC 2017 automatically. The third nation from the European Qualifying fixtures will be the final 14th nation to reach the tournament.

The identity of that country will be determined after a play-off, which will take place on November 4 at Leigh Sports Village.

The second placed nations in each pool will contest this fixture.