Our towns and cities to host RLWC2021 teams

Today marks 500 days to go until the Rugby League World Cup 2021 kicks off at St James' Park in Newcastle and to mark this milestone the organisers of the tournament have announced the towns and cities across England that will host teams competing in the Men's, Women's and Wheelchair competitions.

A number of Super League towns and cities will play host to some of the biggest names in Rugby League and here we'll break down for you where each international team will be based;

Hull

The city of Hull will play host to the Fiji mens team for RLWC2021. In 2017, Fiji topped their group before toppling New Zealand 4-2 in the quarter-finals. Their journey ended in the semi-finals with a 54-6 defeat to eventual champions, Australia. The 2013 tournament ended in similar fashion for the island nation with a 64-0 defeat by Australia at Wembley.

I'm buzzing to be given the honour of revealing where England and Australia's men’s teams will be based for @RLWC2021! It's going to be awesome! #RLWC2021 #PowerOfTogether pic.twitter.com/VdSofWXhOs
— Jesse Lingard (@JesseLingard) June 10, 2020

Leeds

The West Yorkshire city will be awash with Rugby League players during RLWC2021, as it hosts no less than six teams. From the men's competition, Jamaica and Ireland and from the women's competition, Brazil, Canada, England and Papua New Guinea will all call Leeds home for the duration of the tournament.

Liverpool & St Helens

Two teams will be based on Merseyside in 2021- the men's teams from Tonga and Italy. Anyone who watch the epic the 2017 tournament cannot forget the epic semi final clash Tonga played with England! The Tongans narrowly missed out on a first World Cup Final appearance, losing out 20-18 in front of an amazing crowd in Hamilton (New Zealand).  Italy didn't fare so well, losing two of three groups games on the way to an early exit.

Manchester

The host city for the World Cup Final sees two of the biggest names in Rugby League share the city. A city accustomed to rivalries will have the two finalists from the 2017 men's tournament to contend with - England and Australia. England, under new coach Shaun Wane, will be out to get one over the auld enemy and claim a World Cup win on home soil at Old Trafford. Australia, led by coach Mal Maninga, will be looking to make it three wins on the bounce and possibly their 12th win in sixteen stagings of the tournament.     

🇵🇬 The @PNGKumulsRL caused an upset against Great Britain last winter… and we’ve got the news of where they’ll be staying for the @RLWC2021 next year! #PowerOfTogether pic.twitter.com/qhlHnFKcpi
— Warrington Wolves (@WarringtonRLFC) June 10, 2020

Warrington

It will be the Kumuls based in Cheshire. The Papua New Guinea men's team made it as far as the Quarter-finals in 2017 before being out classed by England 36-6 in Melbourne. More recently the Kumuls registered a famous victory over the touring GB Lions team in 2018. 

Wigan & Leigh

The final team to be based in a Super League town is Lebanon and they'll be based in North West. In 2017, despite only registering one win in the group stage, Lebanon progressed to the knock-out stages where they lost narrowly (24-22) to Tonga in the quarter-finals. Due to reaching the latter stages of the 2017 tournament, Lebanon received automatic qualification for RLWC2021.

Other locations chosen to host teams during RLWC2021 are;

Bolton: France (men's team)

Doncaster: Samoa (men's team)

London: Australia, England, Norway and Spain wheelchair teams

Newcastle: Scotland (men's team)

Preston: Wales (men's team)

Sheffield: Greece (men's team) and France, Scotland, Wales and USA (wheelchair teams)

Tees Valley: Cook Islands (men's team)

York: New Zealand (men's and women's teams), Australia, Cook Islands and France (women's teams)

To sign up for all the latest news and information ahead from RLWC2021, visit the website here.