Inaugural Rugby League Americas Championship kicks off this weekend
Image: Davey Wilson Photography
Three games are planned so each Nation gets to play against the other two Nations once. This all kicks off on July 16th when Canada travel down to play Jamaica at (Levitown), Pennsylvania, USA and follows the Bucks County Sharks vs Northern Virginia Eagles at 1pm offering an afternoon of Rugby League action for interested fans.
The following Saturday night July 23rd USARL Hawks will play against Jamaica at (Conshohocken, Philadelphia) USA. The third & Final match of the Tournament will be a vital game for both USA & Canada in more ways than one. Not only will this game be the final game of the new tournament but it will also count as the first leg of the Colonial Cup! The match will be played on Saturday September 24th at Lamport Stadium in Toronto in front of an expected big crowd! The presentation of the RLAC Trophy will follow after this game to the winning Nation. If teams are drawn on points after the 3rd game the same system of "For & Against" that was in the rules of the RLWC Qualifiers will be in place.
In last years Rugby League World Cup Qualifiers, Jamaica came back strongly to narrowly go down to the USA and then in Game 2 Jamaica having a big lead over Canada before the Wolverines came flashing home to level up the scores for a drawn result. The decider, Game 3, Canada were leading USA at half-time but the USA proved too strong in the 2nd half to win entry into the 2017 RLWC.
Jamaica head coach Romeo Monteith added: “The Americas Championship will give our players a meaningful international calendar, which we hope will become a regular series.”
RLIF chairman Nigel Wood, who attended the final world cup qualification match in Jacksonville last December, said: “This is a very significant initiative in the development of our sport internationally. All three nations are to be congratulated for taking the world cup qualifying process onto the next logical level. The introduction of this tournament together with the admission of the Toronto Wolfpack club into the RFL competition structure in 2017 represents a steep change in the position of rugby league in the Americas.”
USA vs Jamaica 7pm, July 23rd Conshohocken PA
The 2nd game of the series will see USA against Jamaica at Philadelphia's home ground A. A. Garthwaite Stadium in Conshohocken, PA following the Philadelphia Fight vs Bucks County Sharks game at 5pm.