International
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
matches were played throughout 2018.
A † denotes a recognised, but unofficial match that did not contribute to the
RLIF World Rankings.
Men
January
''No men's international test matches were played.''
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February
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March
''No men's international test matches were played.''
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April
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May
''No men's international test matches were played.''
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June
Notes:
* ''Paul Wani became the first Papua New Guinean to referee an international match since
Graham Ainui in 1991.''
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Notes:
* ''
Rhadley Brawa,
Junior Rau (both Papua New Guinea),
King Vuniyayawa, and
Pio Sokobalavu (both Fiji) made their Test debuts.''
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Notes:
* ''
Robert Jennings,
Tevita Tatola (both Tonga),
Josh Aloiai,
Michael Chee-Kam,
Christian Crichton,
Tyrone May,
Isaiah Papali'i, and
Ligi Sao (all Samoa) made their Test debuts, while
Jorge Taufua made his debut for Samoa having previously represented Tonga.''
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Notes:
* ''Newly appointed New Zealand coach
Michael Maguire opted not to name a captain for this Test match.
Issac Luke took de facto control of the role.''
* ''
Jake Connor,
Thomas Makinson (both England),
Slade Griffin, and
Jamayne Isaako (both New Zealand) made their Test debuts, while
Leeson Ah Mau,
Herman Ese'ese,
Raymond Faitala-Mariner,
Esan Marsters
Esan Marsters (born 17 August 1996) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Salford Red Devils in the Super League. He has played for the Cook Islands, New Zealand and the New Zealand Māori at international level ...
,
Ken Maumalo made their debuts for New Zealand having previously represented another nation (Samoa in all cases, except Cook Islands for Marsters).''
* ''This match set the highest attendance for a standalone rugby league match played in the United States, eclipsing the 12,349 that attended the
1987 State of Origin exhibition match at
Veterans Memorial Stadium in
Long Beach
Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...
and the ≈12,000-12,500 that attended the 2008 pre-season trial between the
South Sydney Rabbitohs
The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club, also known as the South Sydney Rabbitohs, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra, New South Wales, Maroubra that competes in the Nat ...
and 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 ...
at
Hodges Stadium
Hodges Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium at the University of North Florida (UNF), and the home field for the North Florida Ospreys soccer, track and field, and cross country teams. It is located on the university's campus in Jacksonville, F ...
in
Jacksonville
Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
. An international between the United States and Canada at
Baltimore Memorial Stadium
Baltimore Memorial Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, that formerly stood on 33rd Street on an oversized block officially called Venable Park, a former city park from the 1920s. The site was bound by Eller ...
in 1995, which acted as a curtain raiser for a
CFL
The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division and five in the West Division. The CFL is the highest pr ...
match between the
Baltimore Stallions
The Baltimore Stallions (known officially as the "Baltimore Football Club" and previously as the "Baltimore CFL Colts" in its inaugural season) were a Canadian Football League team based in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States, which played ...
and
Toronto Argonauts
The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...
, posted a crowd of 27,853.''
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July
Notes:
* ''Bartek Sierota became the first Pole to referee an international match.''
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August
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September
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October
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Notes:
* ''
Joseph Manu,
Brandon Smith (both New Zealand),
Damien Cook,
Luke Keary, and
Latrell Mitchell (all Australia) made their Test debuts, while
James Tedesco
James Tedesco (born 8 January 1993), nicknamed "Teddy", is a professional rugby league footballer who captains and plays as a for the Sydney Roosters in the National Rugby League, NRL. A former Australia national rugby league team, Australia a ...
made his debut for Australia having previously represented Italy.''
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Notes:
* ''
Oliver Holmes,
Tom Johnstone,
Reece Lyne,
Adam Milner,
Jamie Shaul,
Liam Sutcliffe,
Luke Thompson (all England),
Lambert Belmas,
Paul Marcon, and
Anthony Marion (all France) made their Test debuts, while
Robbie Mulhern made his debut for England having previously represented Ireland.
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Notes:
* ''The Australian players agreed to a one-time reduction of their $20,000 match payments in order to make this match financially viable.''
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November
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Notes:
* ''In their seventh meeting, this was the first time
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
has won against the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.''
* ''Jamaica became the 11th team to qualify 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 ...
.''
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Notes:
* This was a part of the
2018 South American Cup.
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Notes:
* This was a part of the
2018 South American Cup.
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Notes:
* This was a part of the
2018 South American Cup.
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December
''No men's international test matches were played.''
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Women
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References
{{International rugby league seasons
2018 in rugby league
2018
Events January
* January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency.
* January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...