Whether it’s the World Cup ‘Trophies Tour’ or the creation of the Celtic Shield, Rugby League expansion has been in the spotlight.
To mark 200 days until the World Cup finally kicks off with the meeting of England and Samoa at St James’ Park, Newcastle on October 15, organisers took the men’s, women’s and wheelchair silverware to each of the 18 host towns and cities.
Of course many of them are existing strongholds for the game.
But it was good to see football clubs Arsenal, who have 18.9 million Twitter followers, and Middlesbrough (355,000) using the social media channel to provide welcome publicity to significantly large audiences.
The Emirates Stadium in North London hosts a men’s semi-final on November 12 while Boro’s Riverside Stadium will be the venue for the intriguing October 30 clash between the Cook Islands, who will be based on Teesside, and Tonga, 12/1 fourth favourites to take the title with a string of bookmakers.
The tournament offers a wonderful opportunity to showcase the sport to the nation, and as RLWC2021 chief executive Jon Dutton said:
“We hope to encourage fans far and wide to be involved in the biggest, best and most inclusive Rugby League World ever to be staged.”
You can rely on League Express and our sister publication Rugby League World magazine to provide all the latest World Cup news as well as that from League One, which featured Cornwall for the first time on Saturday.
The historic clash with North Wales Crusaders at Colwyn Bay was given additional interest with the unveiling of the Celtic Shield.
In the style of New Zealand’s Ranfurly Shield rugby union competition, which is based on a challenge system (like boxing titles), League One’s three Celtic clubs (West Wales Raiders complete the trio) will compete for the silverware.
Having won 62-22, North Wales received the Shield, which will remain in their possession until they are beaten by either of the other Celtic sides.
“It’s a fantastic initiative between the Celtic clubs of the Rugby Football League,” said Cornwall president Eric Perez.
“This new challenge shield will help to create a rivalry and camaraderie between the three clubs.”
While Cornwall, whose squad has been put together in a matter of months, will take some encouragement from running in four tries against far more experienced opponents, these are worrying times for West Wales, who lost 52-12 at home to Rochdale and have conceded 134 points in their first two games.
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