OPINION COLUMN: It is unfair how Ireland are not in the quarter-finals

[josie andrews]

Ireland have won two games out of three and have been knocked out of the World Cup but there are teams in the quarter-finals with less points than them.

For those who don’t know how the qualifying system works, the teams who finish in the top three in Group A and Group B progress to the quarter-finals while only the top team in Group C and Group D go through.

There are four teams each in Group A and B while there are three teams each in Group C and D.

Australia finished top of Group A with England in second and Lebanon in third.

Tonga came top of Group B while New Zealand and Samoa grabbed the other spots.

Papua New Guinea won Group C while Fiji won Group D.

But I can’t help but feel sorry for Ireland, because they have had a fantastic tournament.

They have beaten Italy, a team mainly made up of NRL players, and their other win came against Wales.

And the game they did lose was to Papua New Guinea, in Port Moresby. And the final outcome was 14-6 to the host nation. Ireland are the only team yet in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup who have come close to beating the Kumuls.

Ireland have been eliminated from the tournament because Papua New Guinea were the team who finished top of Group C with three wins from three.

But, what is very annoying, is that there are two teams who will play in the quarter-finals next weekend who have won less games and have less points than the Wolfhounds.

And they are Lebanon and Samoa.

Lebanon finished in third-place in Group A, having one won game while Samoa finished third in Group B, having won no games. Yes, you read that right, they haven’t won a game yet they are in the quarter-finals.

They drew with Scotland and they booked a place in the quarter-finals due to having better points difference than Scotland.

Not only do Ireland have more wins that each of them individually, they have more points in the group stage than both Lebanon and Samoa put together.

Surely more people than just me thinks it is unfair?

Maybe next time, if a case like this happens again, there should be a knock-out game involved so at least the team who has the disadvantage actually has a chance to prove themselves and get further on in the competition.

Either way, Ireland should be immensely proud of what they have achieved in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.

They played as a team and as an outsider looking in, they seem a tight bunch who all get along which is great to see.

The bad incidents will always get the big headlines but Ireland should definitely be gaining some respect from the tournament.

Fair play Mark Aston & Co.

https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/op ... er-finals/

[josie andrews]

I think it’s very unfair that Lebanon, & especially Samoa, progress to the quarter finals at the expense Ireland!

[joeb]

Shocking that,and a team progress to quarters and not won a game only rugby league

[Wikimann]

I think it’s very unfair that Lebanon, & especially Samoa, progress to the quarter finals at the expense Ireland!

I personally think it’s a good thing that Lebanon & Samoa can go through to play in the QF (not at Ireland’s expense I might add) however,the fundamental problem lies with the whole completely false & constructed (fiixed ????) nature of the tournament groupings.

To pacify the Aussies over the years & get them to show even a token gesture of interest in the RLWC,organisers have always bowed to their wishes & obvious demands for the whole event to be stage managed to suit them.

It’s nonesense that England must always be in a group with Australia just to generate 1 half decent fixture (in Aussie minds) or that it’s virtually impossible for Australia to be knocked out in a one off game prior to the semi finals.

The whole thing has always been totally stage managed,in order to provide Aus v Eng to kick things of,then Eng v NZ in a semi,with the Aussies awaiting the winner in a final. Basically 3 games or a glorified tri-nations masquerading as a WC.

They’ve obviously pandered to them again on all fronts,Including Making sure that Lebanon/Samoa qualified for the QF as they have lots of NRL players in their ranks (hopefully selling that fact to the Aussie public for attendance figures) was very important.

I can recall the excuses years ago,that it was pointless Australia having a potential 100 point blow out score in a group match against say Fiji (think that was at Gateshead) even though Union doesn’t care a jot that scores of 80+ are commonplace in their version.

With the improvement in the Pacific teams & NRL players choosing their national allegiances more sensibly,those days are hopefully gone anyway now.

The next WC should have 16 teams separated into 4 teams of 4 with each of the top 4 seeded nations (Aus,Eng,NZ,Tonga) heading different groups. Then take the next 4 ranked teams (Samoa,PNG,Ireland,Fiji) & drop one into each seeded group. After that do the same again with (Lebanon,Italy,France,Scotland) & finally the last to come out of the draw would be (Wales,USA,Canada,Cook Islands)

It works for every other team sport so why not RL?
If Australia end up in a group with Fiji,Scotland & Canada so be it.
Top 2 qualify from each group & if Australia have to play NZ in a knockout QF they could potentially lose,tough sh@*e!!

Brazil,Germany & Italy can’t dictate to FIFA who they want in their group draw or who they don’t wish to meet until at least the semi final,it’s ludicrous ????
Ireland should be in the QF with Lebanon & Samoa,England as runners up should be travelling to Port Moresby for the QF v PNG but things are just never straightforward or simple in RL.

[jobo]

I think it’s very unfair that Lebanon, & especially Samoa, progress to the quarter finals at the expense Ireland!

If I was a cynic, I'd say things have been orchestrated to give southern hemisphere sides maximum advantage from the format.

More advertising revenues with 7 of the quarter finalists being from down under and all that.

On merit, Ireland should be in the last eight.

[jasonnlouise]

May be it would have been better to have the qualifying team with worst record ie Samoa having a play off with the best of the rest ie Ireland to see who goes through to the knock out phase proper

[fozzieskem]

It is badly organised that a side can go through without a win is laughable really but no doubt the setup of the tournament had to be agreed on so it is what it is sadly.

[TrueBlueWarrior]

I wonder if Ireland would be bothered if England didn't make it through. :eusa4:

Nope and they shouldn't be, just like I am not that they didn't! Same goes for football!

[markill]

Ireland were not good enough in the Euro competition that led to qualifying, mostly because a lot of their players wanted to play for England (and if the RLIF hadn't changed the eligibility rules last year to having tier 1 and tier 2 countries, they probably would have been poor in this world cup too).

The only thing about the whole thing that seems unfair is how Lebanon got into a group where three go through. Although, even then, I don't see why Ireland would have deserved their place in that group, given how poorly they qualified - only coming through after having to play Spain and Russia. Fairer might have been if USA got put in that group, given they also won their regional competition, in a comp that had more teams in it than Lebanon's, and were quarter finalists at the last world cup.

Ireland got to play Wales by the way. Samoa, Scotland, Lebanon and France would all also have beaten Wales in this tournament. Wales v USA might have been close.

[DaveO]

The only thing about the whole thing that seems unfair is how Lebanon got into a group where three go through. Although, even then, I don't see why Ireland would have deserved their place in that group, given how poorly they qualified - only coming through after having to play Spain and Russia.

Were the groups chosen by how well they qualified? If not then it should be how well a team does in the finals that counts and qualification is irrelevant. If groups were ceded based on qualification, then Ireland have less to complain about.

What is stupid though is a team being able to qualify for the 1/4 finals by winning no games. The brings the sport into disrepute and gives its enemies ammunition and the only reason this has occurred is because of the group format chosen. So regardless of Ireland's fate this needs to be fixed for next time.