Nigeria Pioneers Future of International Rugby League for Emerging Nations.

After a successful debut in global rugby league in 2026, Nigeria is set to sustain the momentum with a pioneering international rugby competition sharing a stage with the Rugby League World Cup. 

The competition, named The EMERGING NATIONS CHALLENGE, has received the blessings of the international rugby league board and is proposed to be held in Sydney from October 19 to November 11, with each participating team playing four matches.

Vice chairman of the Nigerian Rugby League Association, Ade Adebisi, believes the new competition is what Nigerian Rugby League needs after the Green Falcons’ performance in Canada in 2025.

“When we missed out with our women not making the World Cup, We saw the level that we needed to play and what we needed to do, so we made a proposal to the international Rugby league, IRL, and the people running the world cup this year, that we think we could bring together some of the emerging nations, some of the countries who missed out of making the world cup and create a competition; not like the world cup, but something within itself like the Emerging Nations Challenge.”

Adebisi added that the Emerging Nations Challenge will open a pathway for developing Nigerian players while creating a pathway to international rugby league.

“We are very proud of our players, men and women. We want to be able to give them the opportunity to face tougher opponents and make them better players. It’s all about trying to develop a pathway for our Nigerian players, with competition like this. When they get to travel to play Rugby league, bring it home, make it great for the players to represent the country, and for the administrators. “

Nigeria fell one win short of a historic World Cup berth after reaching the final of the inaugural Women’s World Series in Canada last October.

Fiji beat Nigeria to claim the eighth and final Women’s berth at RLWC2026 in Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea.

NRLA Director of High Performance & International Competitions, Luke Shearman, said the proposed Emerging Nations Challenge would feature a Men’s and Women’s tournament, each comprising five teams.

He said the aim was to create the structure for a regular emerging nations tournament that could be played in other parts of the world, including Africa.

“This isn’t just a tournament – it’s a statement about where international rugby league is heading,” Shearman said.

Officials from seven countries representing all regions of the globe – Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Pacific – expressed their interest in fielding teams during an online meeting last weekend, and other nations are waiting in the wings.

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