Kiwis captain Adam Blair speaks to the media before tomorrow's World Cup opener against Samoa.
Rugby League World Cup 2017
When? 27 October - 2 December #RLWC2017 What? 28 Games - 14 Teams - 13 Venues - Five weeks - Three Countries Where? New Zealand, Australia and Papua New Guinea Stay Up to Date: Follow live updates and keep up with all the latest news at www.nzherald.co.nz and the New Zealand Herald Host Cities: Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, Port Moresby, Darwin, Cairns, Townsville, Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Perth, Melbourne How to Watch? Sky Sport will broadcast live coverage of all 28 RLWC2017 matches Official Site: RLWC2017.com
Captains from the 2017 Rugby League World Cup pose beside The Paul Barriere Trophy.
Did You Know? The Rugby League World Cup trophy is known as 'The Paul Barriere Trophy' Named after the President of the FFR XIII - Federation Francaise de Rugby a XIII between 1947 to 1955, Paul was a driving force behind the creation of the International Rugby League Board and the first Rugby League World Cup in 1954.
The Kiwis will play all of their group matches in New Zealand, including a match against Samoa, who they played in the 2013 World Cup. Photo / Getty Images.
RLWC 2017 Pool Groups
Pool A Australia England France Lebanon
Pool B New Zealand Scotland Tonga Samoa
Pool C Papua New Guinea Ireland Wales
Pool D Fiji Italy USA
RLWC2017 Official Draw
*Each team in Pool C & D will play one match against a team from the other pool in the preliminary rounds
*The top three teams from Pool A and Pool B advance along with the top sides from Pool C and Pool D
*Quarter Finals host cities are Christchurch, Darwin, Melbourne, and Wellington. Allocation of games to host cities will occur after the pool rounds