Rugby League World Cup

Just 100 days after pulling out of this year's event with little notice, Australian and New Zealand officials were among those to sign participation agreements for 2022.

A new schedule was released on Friday night, with the tournament starting a week earlier to avoid a clash with the FIFA World Cup but with the same order of games.

The Kiwis kick off their campaign against Lebanon in Warrington on October 16 followed by matches against Jamaica (October 22) and Ireland (October 28).

The men's, women's and wheelchair events are scheduled to take place in England this autumn.

New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) chief Greg Peters said it was "simply too unsafe" to take part.

Rugby Football League (RFL) chairman Simon Johnson called it a "selfish, parochial and cowardly decision".

"Rugby League World Cup organisers have bent over backwards to offer every assurance to the Australians and the Kiwis," Johnson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"We are very unhappy with this decision and we are not prepared to take it lying down."

The Rugby League World Cup for men, women and wheelchair athletes will draw teams from 21 nations - including several which are still struggling with Covid-19.

Thirty-two teams from countries within the United Kingdom, Europe, North, South and Central America, the Pacific Islands and the Caribbean have qualified.

The tournament in England runs between 23 October and 27 November and for the first time, all three competitions will run concurrently.

The 27 year-old has been rated as the player to watch out for from Tonga, by the ultimate rugby league news website ‘Love Rugby League’.

Taumalolo is a household name in rugby league.

The 27-year-old has represented Tonga 13 times and has played for the kingdom in two World Cups.

The North Queensland Cowboys star is a Dally M Medal winner and was named in the 2017 World Cup Team of the Tournament.

Tonga will be playing against Papua  New Guinea on 26 October at the Totally Wicked Stadium.

Cecchin, who disallowed a try that would have given Tonga an upset win, has told The Sydney Morning Herald he was in an Auckland bar when police rang to tell him they had contacted him and several family members that had been targeted.

He was advised not the leave the hotel and told he would be picked up and taken to the airport.

On his return to Australia, he was picked up by the Australian Federal Police.

He also flicked through his phone to discover more than a thousand "vile" attacks, the likes of which he had never encountered across his entire career.

Former Australia prop Fifita, denied what he thought was a fair try in the final seconds of an historic semi-final against England, said the team had "rocked the world" over the past five weeks.

"I'm here now - I think we all [are]," Fifita told reporters after the 20-18 loss before 30,003 fans at Mt Smart Stadium.

"Wearing a red jersey, we can't wait until the Pacific series next year. It took a few of us to rock the world. When I say rock the world, I mean we did."

Trailing 20-0 with eight minutes remaining, Tonga produced an incredible comeback to score three tries in five minutes, and were denied a fourth on the final siren, to fall agonisingly short of booking an historic World Cup Final berth.

Four-pointers to Tevita Pangai Junior, Siliva Havili and Tuimoala Lolohea sent the 30,003-strong crowd at Mount Smart Stadium into mayhem, and very nearly saw Tonga continue their incredible unbeaten run.

In the build up to Tonga's game against Samoa there were a number of skirmishes on the streets of South Auckland, while after their historic first victory over New Zealand, hundreds of fans flooded the same streets.

Fifty-three arrests were made in Otahuhu that night, after what police described as "mass disorder".

The two nations had never met before Friday and they made up for lost time, producing a match that had everything a rugby league fan could ask for. 

Except from one very important man.

Jason Taumalolo has dominated every aspect of this week's pre-Test build-up, having rocked the Kiwis with his last-minute Cup defection to Tonga.

The 24-year-old powerhouse has done all he can to avoid the public spotlight before the showdown in Hamilton, but he'll do plenty of talking on the field, Tongan coach Kristian Woolf says.

"Jason is Jason, always the same - out there having a laugh, having fun and, like everyone else, looking forward to the challenge," Woolf said.