Ireland at the Rugby League World Cup

About Ireland in rugby league

Known as the Wolfhounds, Ireland's modern national side dates to 1995, when Brian Corrigan's Dublin-based revival of the domestic game led to an international debut on St Patrick's Day that year — a 24-22 win over the United States. Ireland plays under the all-island 'Ireland's Call' anthem and, like most of the World Cup's developing nations, leans heavily on an 'exiles' tradition: players of Irish descent based in England's Super League or Australia's NRL, most famously Cork-born Brian Carney, who represented both Ireland and Great Britain across his career. Ireland qualified automatically for the 2000 World Cup after strong qualifying form, topped their group, and lost a competitive 26-16 quarter-final to England — a result the sport's historians still point to as the platform for the country's subsequent growth. Ireland's best World Cup showing to date came in 2017, when a shock 36-12 win over Italy carried the Wolfhounds through to the quarter-finals. The team also fields a growing wheelchair rugby league programme and regularly contests the European Championship alongside Wales, Scotland, France and Serbia. At the 2021/2022 World Cup Ireland were drawn in a group with New Zealand, Lebanon and Jamaica, opening with a win over Jamaica before losing to both Lebanon and the Kiwis. In March 2024 the International Rugby League reclassified Ireland as an affiliate rather than full member for non-compliance with membership rules, a downgrade that left the Wolfhounds ineligible to enter qualifying for the 2026 World Cup — explaining their absence from that tournament's confirmed nations despite their stronger recent on-field form.

Sources

• Ireland national rugby league team — Wikipedia