The
Ireland national rugby league team, known as the
Wolfhounds, represent the island of
Ireland (i.e., both the
Republic of Ireland and
Northern Ireland) in
rugby league football. The team is organized by
Rugby League Ireland and are accredited as an affiliate member of the
Rugby League International Federation (RLIF). The representative team is dominated by players from the European
Super League and sometimes includes players from the Australasian
National Rugby League (NRL). Ireland is also represented by an
Ireland A side, which is made up of players from the
domestic Irish competition.
Since Ireland began competing in international rugby league in 1995, it has participated in the
Emerging Nations Tournament (1995),
Super League World Nines (1996),
World Cup (2000 and 2008),
European Nations Cup (since 2003) and Victory Cup (2004). Ireland A compete annually in the Amateur Four Nations competition (since 2002) and the St Patrick's Day Challenge (1995–2004).
Irish players have in the past been selected to play for the
Great Britain side, one recent example being
Cork-born
Brian Carney. However, since the Great Britain team was split into individual nations in 2007, it is unlikely that this situation will arise again.
World Cup 2008
See also 2008 Rugby League World Cup qualifyingSee also 2008 Rugby League World CupIreland were drawn against
Lebanon and
Russia in Europe's Qualifying Pool Two. Ireland topped the group with a 16-16 draw with Lebanon at Dewsbury on 2...
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