IRL World Rankings: Canada, Scotland the big movers

Canada Men’s and Women’s teams have been rewarded for successful European tours with both the Wolverines and Ravens making significant climbs in the latest IRL World Rankings announced ahead of IRL Rugby League World Cup 2026.

 

The Wolverines rose 12 places from 29th to 17th after beating Norway and Netherlands, while suffering a 22-10 loss to Scotland, who have also moved up seven places to 20th in the World Rankings as of July 31.

 

 

The Ravens, who failed to qualify for RLWC26 after losing to Fiji at the inaugural Women’s World Series in Toronto last November, were the biggest movers in the updated Women’s World Rankings.

 

Canada are now ranked seventh – up from 13th after beating Wales and Scotland – both of whom were ranked higher before their meeting.

 

Wales, who will play at the World Cup, effectively lost their seventh place ranking to the Ravens after the 14-0 loss in Neath on July 19, and will head into RLWC26 ranked ninth among Women’s teams in the IRL World Rankings.

 

 

Canada Rugby League Association President John Cameron said the rise of the Ravens and Wolverines was the result of work to grow the game in Canada and develop pathways for players under the coaching of Matt Barron and Aaron Zimmerle.

 

“Though the rankings may show a quick, dramatic rise, it is rather the result of a series of steps our organisation has taken over the last few years that is now showing in the rankings,” Cameron said.

 

“Developing our base through our pathways - especially our U19s, have provided the Head Coach Zimmerle and the Wolverines a steady stream of new debutants that has led to new blood coming into the system.

 

“This influx of new talent has also led to growth in our domestic leagues - including additional levels in BC, and teams in Ontario - all contributing to more playing time.”

Photo: Canada Wolverines in action against Netherlands during their three-match European tour.

Ravens co-captain Megan Pakulis is enjoying her second stint in England’s Women’s Super League after last year becoming the first North American to play in the NRLW for Gold Coast Titans, and she has been joined at York by fullback Petra Woods.  

 

“Our women have continued to build off the base established by Mike Castle, now led by Matt Barron, but what has changed is both the increase in domestic games - leading to more playing time - and a couple of our Ravens joining international professional leagues,” Cameron said.

 

“Combined, a stronger foundation - through more ages, an expanded domestic scene - and more games internationally- have all combined to provide momentum to the CRLA.

 

“The support from the IRL in helping identify international opportunities for our teams to compete has provided that final ingredient to make these tours so fruitful.

 

“The most sustainable approach to grow from here is to double down on what we’re doing - build the pathways, provide opportunities to play at home and abroad; while continuing to professionalize our organizational and financial structure to support its growth.”

 

Australia remain No.1 in both the Men's and Women's IRL World Rankings, followed by New Zealand and England.

 

The Pacific nations dominate the Men's Top 10, with Samoa 4th, Tonga 5th, Papua New Guinea 6th, Fiji 7th, Cook Islands 8th followed by Netherlands (9th), Ukraine (10th), France (11th), Serbia (12th), Wales (13th), Ireland (14th), Greece (15th), Malta (16th) and Canada (17th).

 

In the Women's rankings, France are 4th followed by Samoa (5th), Papua New Guinea (6th), Canada (7th), Ireland (8th), Wales (9th) and Nigeria (10th).

 

Scotland are the other big improvers in both Men’s and Women’s rankings after playing USA in Vegas in February and Canada in July.

 

The Bravehearts lost 28-20 to the Hawks, who are ranked ,  and beat the Wolverines 22-10 to rise from 27th to 20th place.

 

Scotland Women have climbed from 20th to 17th after a 26-14 win against the USA in Vegas and a 34-4 loss to Canada at Hawick.

Photo: Scotland and Canada were the big movers in the Women's IRL World Rankings.

Scotland Rugby League Operations Director Barry McGuffog said: “We’re obviously delighted to have made a significant jump up the men’s rankings. It shows the importance of being active and playing games at international level.

 

“We’ve had the two games so far in 2026, and have another two pencilled in for the Autumn which we hope to announce very soon, and we’re already looking at options for 2027 and beyond.

 

“With one eye on future World Cup qualification, we’ve given a number of domestic-based players, and those from our pathways, the opportunity to both train and play with some more established and experienced heritage players.

 

“We believe this approach, and finding the right blend, is fundamental to the develop and growth of the sport in Scotland. Re-establishing representative teams at both domestic club and A, or Braveheart level, will hopefully help to bridge that gap between club and full senior level.

 

“It’s also great to see the women rise in the rankings too. They’re still in their infancy relatively speaking, so we hope that steady progress continues over the next few years. The women also have one eye on future World Cups, so the aim is to firmly establish ourselves at international level and continue growing the game domestically via our girls pathways programme.”

The Official International Rugby League (IRL) World Rankings are calculated on each nation’s performance over the current season and the three preceding seasons. 

Points are awarded to each team for each match based on:

• The result of the match i.e. win, lose or draw 
• The margin of victory (or defeat) - the larger the winning margin the greater the value to the rankings
• The relative strength of opposition faced - if you play a higher ranked team that is of greater value than playing a lower ranked team
• The date of the match – more recent matches are weighted more heavily - a result in the most recent 2 years is worth double a result 3 years ago and 4 times a result that is 4 years old
• The importance of the match - World Cup matches are ranked top followed in order by World Cup Qualifiers, Regional Championships and one-off international matches

The points are then used to create the Official World Rankings by ordering the teams by virtue of the points gained over the four year period.

Only officially sanctioned matches played at senior level between two approved members are considered as part of the rankings.