International rugby league in 2020
A list of men and women international rugby league matches played throughout 2020 and does not include wheelchair rugby league international matches. A † denotes a recognised, but unofficial match that did not contribute to the IRL World Rankings.
| International rugby league |
|---|
| in 2019 | in 2021 |
Many fixtures scheduled were cancelled or rescheduled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Kangaroo tour of England, Oceania Cup, and European Championship were all cancelled. The European Championship B, European Championship C, European Championship D and Americas Championship were all postponed until 2021, whilst the MEA Championship was postponed until a later date not confirmed.
As a result of the travel restrictions from COVID-19, only two respective men's and women's test matches were played in 2020; a men's international between Peru and Brazil in Sydney before the pandemic began, the Griffin Cup match between Germany and Netherlands, and a women's 'Clash of the Pacific' double-header in Auckland where Tonga and Niue, and New Zealand and Tonga played each other.
Season overview
| Men's international tours | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Start date | Touring side | Region | Results [Matches] |
| No international men's tours in 2020 | |||
| Men's international friendlies | |||
| Start date | Home team | Away team | Winners |
| 22 February 2020 |  Peru |
 Brazil |
Brazil |
| Men's international tournaments / series | |||
| Start date | Tournament | Winners | |
| 26 September 2020 |  Griffin Cup |
Netherlands | |
| Women's international tours | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Start date | Touring side | Region | Results [Matches] |
| No international women's tours in 2020 | |||
| Women's international friendlies | |||
| Start date | Home team | Away team | Winners |
| 7 November 2020 |  Tonga |
 Niue |
Tonga |
| 7 November 2020 |  New Zealand |
 Samoa |
New Zealand |
| Women's international tournaments / series | |||
| Start date | Tournament | Winners | |
| No international women's tournaments in 2020 | |||
Rankings
The following were the rankings at the beginning of the season.
| IRL World Rankings | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Official Men's Rankings as of November 2019[1] | |||
| Rank | Change* | Team | Pts% |
| 1 |  2 | New Zealand | 100.00% |
| 2 |  1 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Australia | 91.82% |
| 3 | 1 |  England | 85.34% |
| 4 |  | Tonga | 60.66% |
| 5 | |  Fiji | 36.57% |
| 6 | 4 |  Papua New Guinea | 28.53% |
| 7 | | Samoa | 22.09% |
| 8 | 2 |  France | 16.69% |
| 9 | 1 |  Scotland | 15.00% |
| 10 | 1 |  Lebanon | 11.81% |
| 11 | 5 |  Greece | 11.38% |
| 12 | |  Ireland | 11.36% |
| 13 | 1 |  Italy | 7.86% |
| 14 | 3 |  Wales | 7.75% |
| 15 | 4 |  Serbia | 0.00% |
| 16 | 1 |  Malta | 6.77% |
| 17 | 1 |  Norway | 5.63% |
| 18 | 3 |  United States | 5.39% |
| 19 | 4 |  Poland | 5.35% |
| 20 | 7 |  Jamaica | 5.04% |
| 21 | 1 |  Hungary | 4.27% |
| 22 | 3 |  Czech Republic | 4.16% |
| 23 | 5 |  Cook Islands | 3.87% |
| 24 | 7 |  Turkey | 3.51% |
| 25 | 1 | Netherlands | 3.29% |
| 26 | 4 |  Spain | 3.18% |
| 27 | 6 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Canada | 2.81% |
| 28 |  |  Nigeria | 2.51% |
| 29 | 2 |  Solomon Islands | 2.32% |
| 30 | 10 |  Sweden | 2.16% |
| 31 | 4 |  Germany | 1.95% |
| 32 | 1 |  Chile | 1.86% |
| 33 | |  Ghana | 1.80% |
| 34 | 16 |  Morocco | 1.69% |
| 35 | 3 |  Vanuatu | 1.47% |
| 36 | |  South Africa | 1.46% |
| 37 | 8 |  Russia | 1.41% |
| 38 | |  Cameroon | 1.31% |
| 39 | 2 |  Ukraine | 1.21% |
| 40 | 1 |  Colombia | 1.06% |
| 41 | 4 | Brazil | 0.50% |
| 42 | | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Belgium | 0.30% |
| 43 | 4 |  Denmark | 0.13% |
| 44 | 4 |  Bulgaria | 0.10% |
| 45 | 4 |  Latvia | 0.07% |
| *Change from July 2019 | |||
| IRL World Rankings | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Official Women's Rankings as of November 2019[2] | |||
| Rank | Change* | Team | Pts% |
| 1 | | Australia | |
| 2 | | New Zealand | |
| 3 | | England | |
| 4 | 2 | Papua New Guinea | |
| 5 | 1 | Canada | |
| 6 | 1 | France | |
| 7 | 2 | Cook Islands | |
| 8 | | Italy | |
| 9 | | Serbia | |
| 10 | | Fiji | |
| 11 | | Turkey | |
| 12 | | Samoa | |
| 13 | | Brazil | |
| 14 | 6 | Lebanon | |
| 15 | | Greece | |
| *Change from July 2019 | |||
February
September
Griffin Cup
| Netherlands |
20–18 | Germany |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Longhurst, Farrell, Schoenmaker Goal: Gout (4/4) |
Report | Try: Hampson (2), Seidler Goal: Billsborough (1/1), Esser (1/1), Doughton (1/1) |
November
Tonga vs Niue in New Zealand
| Tonga |
66–8 | Niue |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Hufanga (3), Taulanga (2), Filimoe'atu (2), Sikei (2), Vailea, Huni, Maumau-Pinomi Goal: Hufanga (9/12) |
Report | Try: Kamutoa, Hiko |
Samoa women in New Zealand
| New Zealand |
28–8 | Samoa |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Stephens (2), Hansen, Hireme-Smiler, Vaha'akolo, Tamarua Goal: Hansen (2/4), Paul (0/2) |
Report | Try: Lemanu, Tufuga Goal: Eli (0/2) |
References
- "Cook Islands rise 17 places in latest Rugby League World Rankings". Rugby League International Federation. 13 July 2019.
- "Cook Islands rise 17 places in latest Rugby League World Rankings". Rugby League International Federation. 13 July 2019.
- "Twitter Post". Twitter. Netherlands Rugby League. 25 September 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
- "KIWI FERNS TO CELEBRATE 25TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR WITH FETŪ SAMOA TEST". nzrl.co.nz. NZRL. 9 September 2020. Retrieved 16 September 2020.