Twenty-One members of the Asia Pacific Rugby League Confederation have received rankings following one of the largest International Rugby League seasons on record.
The rankings, which are based upon the same algorithm used for the RLIF World Rankings, highlight the growth of the sport, especially into Asia and Latin America.
Biggest movers in the regional rankings included Tonga jumping into the top three, Chile moving from 13th to 9th and the Philippines moving from 10th to 7th.
Five new members joined the rankings for the first time in 2017, with Japan and Hong Kong joining from Asia, and Argentina, Colombia and Brazil joining from Latin America.
Women’s Rankings:
1. Australia
2. New Zealand
3. Cook Islands
4. Papua New Guinea
Men’s Rankings:
1. Australia (1)
2. New Zealand (2)
3. Tonga (5)
4. Fiji (4)
5. Samoa (3)
6. PNG (6)
7. Philippines (10)
8. Cook Islands (7)
9. Chile (13)
10. Niue (8)
11. South Africa (9)
12. Vanuatu (11)
13. El Salvador (15)
14. Thailand (12)
15. Argentina (-)
16. Colombia (-)
17. Japan (-)
18. Solomon Islands (14)
19. Brazil (-)
20. Uruguay (16)
21. Hong Kong (-)
