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European Qualification Draw for RLWC2017 Announced tomorrow + Playoff in Leigh ENG?

Burns

Burns

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The draw for the European Qualification Tournament for RLWC2017 will take place in Paris tomorrow (Wednesday November 4th) at 6.00PM (CET)
The draw, which is seeded, will create two pools of three nations:

The seeds, which will be kept in separate pools, are:


No1 Ireland & Wales
No 2 Serbia & Russia
No 3 Italy & Spain

The Number 1 seeds will be drawn, followed by the Number 2 and finally, Number 3

Once the two pools are created the positions within each pool will be drawn and allocated - Team A, Team B and Team C - this will give the order of play for the fixtures.

The games will be played as follows:


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


November 4th 2016 2nd Pool A v 2nd Pool B at Leigh Sports Village, England
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http://www.rlif.com/rugby-league-international-news/article/1596/draw-announced-for-european-qualification

Announced at 4am Thursday morning AEST time.

Whilst all good and well, why are we staging a playoff match in Leigh?
 
langpark

langpark

First Grade
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I think Leigh is fine. They'll probably get a thousand to the match. Which is probably more than any of the competing nations could have drawn to it. Plus, this is a one-off match, not home and away. It SHOULD be held at a neutral venue.

Seriously, they're damned if they do, damned if they don't in the eyes of some RL fans. Why does there have to always be a tonne of whining to go along with every decision that gets made?

Burns said:
What could be more exciting then qualifying for the World Cup then playing in front of a tiny crowd in a small English town.
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You're not exactly answering his question nor providing an alternative. You just continue to complain. Please, answer his question, I'm genuinely curious to hear your answer!
 
E

Evil Homer

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deluded pom? said:
Why not somewhere that isn't Leigh. Do they get the LSV for free?
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Probably. Also the fact that it's the correct size stadium for the event, has a large local fanbase and will be neutral territory for both nations. The only thing missing is adequate transport links, but then I doubt people will be traveling from far and wide to see this match (although I probably will).
 
adamkungl

adamkungl

Immortal
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langpark said:
You're not exactly answering his question nor providing an alternative. You just continue to complain. Please, answer his question, I'm genuinely curious to hear your answer!
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Standard response by most Rugby League fans.
 
Burns

Burns

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6,149
Welp, fiery bunch today. I'll concede, Leigh is probably the best location. I didn't consider the need to host the game in a neutral country, although seeming the 2013 European WC Qualifiers took place in Serbia with Serbia competing, I'm not sure that's a valid point.
 
E

Evil Homer

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Burns said:
although seeming the 2013 European WC Qualifiers took place in Serbia with Serbia competing
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No they didn't. The final round of matches took place in Serbia as a double-header to provide a neutral venue for the decisive Italy vs Lebanon match.
 
Last edited:
Burns

Burns

First Grade
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6,149
Evil Homer said:
No they didn't. The final round of matches took place in Serbia as a double-header to provide a neutral venue for the decisive Italy vs Lebanon match.
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Hmm, well righto, at least they didnt move it to England. I still think Leigh is uninspiring, but accept that's where it has to be.
 
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Evil Homer

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Burns said:
Hmm, well righto, at least they didnt move it to England. I still think Leigh is uninspiring, but accept that's where it has to be.
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Again, not sure why you think it's uninspiring. Do you think we should rent out Wembley for this match? Really confused as to your thought process here.
 
langpark

langpark

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5,867
Burns said:
Welp, fiery bunch today. I'll concede, Leigh is probably the best location. I didn't consider the need to host the game in a neutral country, although seeming the 2013 European WC Qualifiers took place in Serbia with Serbia competing, I'm not sure that's a valid point.
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Only cos I know you can handle it ;-)

Yeah as Homer says, it's a good size for such a match. It's about the smallest stadium you can find, that still has all the modern facilities that are needed to stage the big events. I cannot think of many others. Widnes, Salford. Whichever one was chosen, was always gonna be 'uninspiring'.
 
E

Evil Homer

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roughyedspud said:
which bit? it being a curtain raiser or england v scotland at leigh?
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Both.
langpark said:
Only cos I know you can handle it ;-)

Yeah as Homer says, it's a good size for such a match. It's about the smallest stadium you can find, that still has all the modern facilities that are needed to stage the big events. I cannot think of many others. Widnes, Salford. Whichever one was chosen, was always gonna be 'uninspiring'.
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Salford is owned by a faceless stadium company that charges huge fees to play there, and Widnes has a weird artificial turf which doesn't comply with RLIF regulations and means that the stadium is ineligible to host RLIF-sanctioned international matches (that's also why there were no 2013 World Cup matches there).
 
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