The 2016 World Club Series (also known as the 2016 Dacia World Club Series due to sponsorship by

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus ro ...

) was the second edition of the

World Club Series The World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league competition between the winners of the Australian National Rugby League and the British Super League, for the de facto club world championship of the sport. Super League sides have won the c ...

and saw three

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

teams and three

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

(NRL) teams participate. The series included the

World Club Challenge The World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league competition between the winners of the Australian National Rugby League and the British Super League, for the de facto club world championship of the sport. Super League sides have won the c ...

, a one-off match between the champions of the Super League and NRL.

Background

Qualification for the Super League teams was changed to include the Challenge Cup winners, as well as the League Leaders and Grand Final winner. As the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...

claimed all three possible qualification positions the Super League Board decided to invite Super League semi-finalist St Helens to take part in the series.Clubs confirmed for 2016 World Club Series
''superleague.co.uk'', 8 October 2015 The three National Rugby League teams were announced as the champion

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest city in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

, the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

, who were defeated in the grand final, and the minor premier

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

Series details

Game 1: Fourth Vs Minor Premiers

The match celebrated the 40th anniversary of the inaugural World Club Challenge, which involved both teams.

Game 2: Grand Final runners-up

Game 2 was a repeat of last years fixture where

won 14-12 in golden point extra time.

World Club Challenge

First time the two clubs had met since the

1997 World Club Championship The 1997 World Club Championship was an expansion of the World Club Challenge concept by Super League. The rugby competition was restructured to include all 22 clubs from the Australasian Super League and the Super League championships and was kn ...

tournament.

Leeds Rhinos

Leeds won the Treble in 2015 in their most successful season. They beat

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...

22-20 in the Grand Final to qualify for their 7th World Club Challenge.

North Queensland Cowboys

The Cowboys won their first Premiership in 2015 which was their 20th anniversary. They beat the

in extra time of a dramatic Grand Final to qualify for their first World Club Challenge.

Teams

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:World Club Series 2016 in Australian rugby league 2016 in English rugby league

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...