Photo: PhotoSport

The Tongan men's rugby league team have jumped from 11th to fourth in the world rankings after their stellar run in the recent world cup.

Tonga reached the semi-finals, going down to runners up England.

Tonga head coach Kristian Woolf, who oversaw a thrilling victory over New Zealand and a narrow defeat to England, does not want to have to wait until the 2021 World Cup to face the top sides again.

"The Mate Ma'a's move is just reward for a very strong year including a great World Cup campaign," he said.

"It is something we want to continue, with the opportunity to be involved in more international games in the future and the ability to compete against the top three nations," he said.

Leading rankings: 1 Australia, 2 New Zealand, 3 England, 4 Tonga, 5 Fiji, 6 Samoa, 7 Scotland, 8 France, 9 Lebanon, 10 Papua New Guinea.