The Ireland men's national rugby league team, known as the Wolfhounds, is organised by

Rugby League Ireland Rugby League Ireland (RLI) is the internationally recognised governing body for the development of rugby league football in Ireland, having secured official recognition from the RLIF in 2000. It is recognised within the Irish Sports Council an ...

and represents

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

in international rugby league. The representative team is composed largely of players of Irish descent who compete in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of w ...

as well as the Australasian

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

. Ireland is also represented by an Ireland A side, which is made up of players from the Irish domestic competition. Since Ireland began competing in international rugby league in 1995, it has participated in the

1995 Rugby League Emerging Nations Tournament The 1995 Rugby League Emerging Nations World Championship was held alongside the Centenary Rugby League World Cup. Although the competition received little build-up or promotion, the novelty value of the teams taking part encouraged relatively ...

, the 1996 Super League World Nines, and five

Rugby League World Cup The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league tournament contested by the top national men's representative teams. The tournament is administered by the International Rugby League and was first held in France in 1954, which was t ...

s –

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

and

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

. They have also competed in the Rugby League European Nations Cup. Although, the island of Ireland is separate from the island of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

, Irish players such as

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

-born Brian Carney have in the past been selected to play for the Great Britain side.

History

The seeds of modern-day Rugby League in Ireland were sown in 1989 when Brian Corrigan founded the Dublin Blues Rugby League, a club that was primarily used by union players to keep fit during the summer by playing matches against touring British teams. In 1995 the British RFL established Ireland's first development officer and later that year Ireland played against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

in Washington on

St Patricks Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...

with Ireland winning 24–22.

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

player Joe Lydon came on as a substitute despite also serving as the manager.

Huddersfield Giants Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, the birthplace of rugby league, who play in the Super League competition. They play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium which is sha ...

coach Terry Flanagan and former Great Britain international Niel Wood were the joint coaches. In August 1995 Ireland beat Scotland at the RDS Arena in Dublin as a curtain raiser to the charity shield match between Leeds Rhinos and

. The matches were played before an attendance of 5,716, a record for an international rugby league match on Irish soil. Former Great Britain player Des Foy played for Ireland. Following their appearance at the 1995 Emerging Nations Tournament, they were invited to the Super League World Nines in Fiji where they finished 8th.

Flags and anthems

The Irish rugby league team is one of many Irish teams that draws its players from across the island of Ireland. It utilises the

Four Provinces Flag of Ireland The following is a list of Irish counties' coats of arms. In the majority of cases these are arms assigned to county councils created by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 or later legislation, either by the Chief Herald of Ireland in what is n ...

and the all-island anthem, "

Ireland's Call "Ireland's Call" is a song used as a national anthem by some sports competitors representing the island of Ireland, originally and most notably the men's rugby union team. It was commissioned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) for the 1995 ...

". Unlike the

Irish rugby union The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) ( ga, Cumann Rugbaí na hÉireann) is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ...

team, the Irish rugby league team does not play The Soldier's Song, the national anthem of the Irish state, in addition to Ireland's Call when playing at home.

1995 Emerging Nations Tournament

Ireland were included in the tournament held in England and were placed in Group B alongside

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistri ...

and

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

. Ireland beat Moldova 48–24 before beating Morocco 42–6 to progress to the final. In the final Ireland lost 6–22 to the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

at Gigg Lane in Bury. Coached by Terry Flanagan, Ireland's squad included professionals Des Foy and Martin Crompton in an otherwise domestic based squad.

2000 World Cup

1997 saw more England-based

players making themselves available by use of the grandparent rule. The Irish team improved its standards but this development gave less opportunity for Irish-based players to get a chance to play. However, Irish-based players were included in the Irish squad for the triangular tournaments in 1998 against France and Scotland and 1999 against Scotland and Wales. Their success was enough to earn a place in the 2000 World Cup. Finishing top of their group, the Irish eventually lost 26–16 to England in the quarter-finals, but the performance set the scene for future developments in Ireland.

2008 World Cup

Ireland were drawn against

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

in Europe's

2008 Rugby League World Cup Qualifying 2008 Rugby League World Cup qualifying matches took place from April 2006 to November 2007. Of the ten teams to compete in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, five of them qualified based on their performance in these matches. The other five teams ...

Pool Two. Ireland topped the group with a 16–16 draw with Lebanon at Dewsbury on 2 November 2007. The draw meant Ireland qualified for the 2008 World Cup on points difference from Lebanon as both nations gained the same number of group points. Ireland 2008 RLWC

At the 2008 World Cup in Australia, Ireland were in Group C along with

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

and

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

. They lost to Tonga on 27 October in Parramatta, Sydney, but were victorious against Samoa, again in Parramatta, on 5 November and topped the group on points difference. As the group winners, they played

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consis ...

, winners of Group B, for a chance to qualify for the semi-final. Fiji won 30–14 eliminating Ireland.

2013 World Cup

For the 2013 World Cup Ireland were drawn in group A alongside Australia, England and 2008 World Cup rivals Fiji. Ireland was granted automatic entry to the tournament due to their strong showing in the 2008 World Cup. Ireland lost all three group matches including a 0–50 defeat to eventual champions Australia in front of 5,021 fans at

Thomond Park Thomond Park is a stadium in Limerick in the Irish province of Munster. The stadium is owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union and has Munster Rugby, Shannon RFC and UL Bohemian RFC as tenants. Limerick FC played home games in Thomond Park fr ...

2017 World Cup

Ireland kicked off their campaign with a shock 36–12 win over Italy in

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

. In the next pool match Ireland lost a narrow match to PNG 14–6 with PNG needing a 78th minute try to win the game. Ireland's final pool match was against Wales in Perth where they ran out comfortable winners 34–6. Ireland did not progress to the next round of the tournament despite winning more games than Lebanon or Samoa who qualified for the last 8.

2021 World Cup

Ireland started 2021 Rugby League World Cup qualification campaign in the 2018 European Championship, where they finished third with a win against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and two losses against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. Ireland's third place finish required them to participate in the 2019 European play-off tournament to ensure qualification. Here they managed to achieve two wins against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, leading to their World Cup qualification. Ireland were drawn into Group C, alongside

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

. In April 2022 Offaly-born

Ged Corcoran Ged Corcoran (born 28 March 1983) is an Irish professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of Ireland and a former professional rugby league footballer. He played at international level for Ireland, and at club level for Halifax in ...

took over from Stuart Littler for the World Cup campaign. Ireland finished the tournament with a 1–2 record beating Jamaica in their opener, before losing to Lebanon and New Zealand.

Current squad

The 24-man national team squad selected for the

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received £ ...

was announced on 29 September 2022.

Competitive records and ranking

Ireland compete in the Rugby League European Nations Cup and have participated in the

Overall record

''Ireland's competitive record as of 29 October 2022''

World Cup

''A red box around the year indicates tournaments played within Ireland.''

European Championship

Triangular Series

''This one-off tournament was contested by Ireland, Scotland and Wales.''

Coaches

''Updated as of 29 October 2022''

Honours

*1999 Triangular Series

Stadium & Attendance

In 2015 Rugby League Ireland announced that the

Carlisle Grounds The Carlisle Grounds is a football stadium in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland. Situated directly behind the Bray D.A.R.T. station, it is home to Bray Wanderers A.F.C. History The Carlisle Grounds can claim to be the Football Association of ...

Bray, County Wicklow Bray ( ) is a coastal town in north County Wicklow, Ireland. It is situated about south of Dublin city centre on the east coast. It has a population of 32,600 making it the ninth largest urban area within Ireland (at the 2016 census). Bray is ...

would become the official home ground of the national team. Despite this announcement, Ireland have also subsequently used

Morton Stadium Morton Stadium, or the National Athletics Stadium, is an athletics stadium in Santry Demesne, Santry in Ireland. Often called Santry Stadium, it is the centre for athletics events in Dublin city and the home track of Clonliffe Harriers. It h ...

Santry Santry () is a suburb on the northside of Dublin, Ireland, bordering Coolock, Glasnevin, Kilmore and Ballymun. It straddles the boundary of Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council jurisdictions. The character of the area has changed ...

as their home ground.
''Below is a list of the highest attendances for international rugby league matches in Ireland.''

Individual Records

''Statistics are up to date as of 30 October 2022. Bold indicates current player.''

Notable players

Below is a list of players who have also gained caps for either

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, the

Exiles Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in addition to their caps earned with Ireland. Brian Carney

;

Luke Keary Luke Keary (born 3 February 1992) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Sydney Roosters in the NRL and Australia and Ireland at international level. Keary previously played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, with ...

Pat Richards Pat Richards (born 27 February 1982) is a former professional rugby league footballer. An Ireland international er, he played in the National Rugby League for Sydney clubs the Parramatta Eels and the Wests Tigers, with whom he won the 2005 NRL ...

Luke Ricketson Luke Ricketson (born 5 February 1973) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. An Australian and Ireland international, and New South Wales State of Origin representative back-row forward, ...

Brett White Brett White (born 8 April 1982) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Canberra Raiders and the Melbourne Storm in the NRL. Both an Ireland and Australian international, and New South Wales State of Origin represent ...

;

* Ben Currie * Ben Harrison *

Johnny Lawless John "Johnny" Lawless (born 3 November 1974) is a rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He played at representative level for England, and Ireland, and at club level for Halifax (two spells), Sheffield Eagles and Huddersfi ...

* Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook *

Michael McIlorum Michael McIlorum (born 10 January 1988) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Catalans Dragons in the Betfred Super League. He is both an Ireland and England international. He had played his entire professional car ...

Robbie Mulhern Robert "Robbie" Mulhern (born 18 October 1994) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Leigh Leopards in the Super League. Mulhern has represented Ireland, England and the England Knights at international level. He ...

* Steve Prescott ;

Shannon McDonnell Shannon Jay McDonnell (born 5 August 1987) is a former Ireland international rugby league footballer who last played for St Helens in the Super League. He had previously played for National Rugby League clubs the Wests Tigers and the Newcastl ...

;

Phil Cantillon Phil Cantillon (born 2 June 1976) is an England and Ireland dual international former professional rugby league footballer who played professionally from 1992 to 2007. He successfully captained Ireland and broke numerous try-scoring world recor ...

* Brian Carney *

Mick Cassidy Michael Darren Cassidy (born 3 July 1973) is the Head of youth development of the Wigan Warriors and a former professional rugby league footballer. Cassidy had a wealth of experience with the dominant Wigan side of the early to mid-1990s. Cas ...

Gary Connolly Gary John Connolly (born 22 June 1971) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s as a and for St Helens, Canterbury Bulldogs, Wigan Warriors, Leeds Rhinos and for the Great Britain national si ...

* Mark Forster * Des Foy *

Chris Joynt Christopher Michael Joynt (born 7 December 1971) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. Not to be confused with the American cannabis activist with the same name. A Great Britain international repres ...

* Barrie McDermott * Terry O'Connor *

Joe Philbin Joseph Anthony Philbin (born July 2, 1961) is an American football coach who, until recently, served as the offensive line coach for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League. He was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, a position he ...

* Ryan Sheridan

Ireland A

The Ireland A team is selected from players in the Irish domestic competition, administered by

. The Ireland A side competed in the St Patrick's Day Challenge between 2000 and 2012 and in the

Amateur Four Nations The Amateur Four Nations was a rugby league competition contested annually by Wales A, Ireland A, Scotland A and England A. The teams from the Celtic nations would pick players from their domestic competitions, while England's squad would be pick ...

from 2003 to 2014.

References

External links

Home page of Rugby League Ireland

Rugby League International Site
* {{commons category, Ireland national rugby league team National rugby league teams