3/11/14

Scotland have made history by not only finishing at the top of the European Championship for the first time but by also qualifying as the 4th nation in the 2016 Rugby League Four Nations. They also received an added bonus as the winner was supposed to win qualification for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. As Scotland had already qualified the win justifies their automatic qualification confirmed back in August.

After their loss at the hands of France 22 – 38 on Friday, the Bravehearts had to wait for the outcome of the Ireland vs Scotland match on Sunday. Ireland came within a whisker of overtaking Scotland via for and against. The Irish needed to win by a margin of 41 points but came up 9 points short with their win over Wales 14 – 46.

This is a big development for Rugby League in Scotland and will hopefully see the profile of rugby league increase over the next 3 years.

So the 2016 Rugby League Four Nations will see Scotland, Australia, New Zealand and England take on each other in the tournament which is set to be played in England and Scotland.

Scotland will join Australia, New Zealand, England, Fiji, France, Samoa in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup with the remaining 6 places to be decided via qualifiers.