The International Rugby League Rankings for men have been updated, with the Kangaroos falling to fourth spot ahead of the World Cup later this year in England.
Austrlaia's last game came in October of 2019 against Tonga in what was a shock loss, with the COVID pandemic and a tightened NRL calendar being to blame for their lack of rugby league since then.
New Zealand have ascended up the table to top spot, with the RLIF confirming the calculations are made based on matches played during the last four years.
The rankings also see England in second spot, and Tonga in third. Behind Australia sit Papua New Guinea, Fiji and France, with Samoa, Serbia and Greece rounding out the top ten.
Serbia are the only top ten nation to miss out on the World Cup in 2022 following Greece and Jamaica's famous qualifications for the tournament.
IRL chairman Tony Grant admitted the rankings were skewed by the lack of football, but hoped this could be corrected in the lead up to the World Cup.
โOn the one hand it is good to have enough fixtures played in 2021 to run the world rankings, on the other hand, there is some volatility in some of the placings due to the skewed nature of who was able to play fixtures and who wasnโt,โ Grant said.
โThe over-riding principle of any sportโs ranking system is to see endeavours on the field reflected on the ladder and that is certainly evident here.
โWe all hope and expect that during 2022 and into the World Cup, we will see a significantly greater number of international matches played, and this will, in turn, be reflected back in the world rankings.
โFinally, I would like to congratulate all those nations who were able to play games and thank them for their efforts.โ
Full international rugby league world rankings
1. New Zealand
2. England
3. Tonga
4. Australia
5. Papua New Guinea
6. Fiji
7. France
8. Samoa
9. Serbia
10. Greece
11. Scotland
12. Ireland
13. Lebanon
14. Netherlands
15. Malta
16. Italy
17. Czech Republic
18. Jamaica
19. Turkey
20. Norway
21. Poland
22. Cook Islands
23. Wales
24. USA
25. Ukraine
26. Philippines
27. Nigeria
28. Spain
29. Germany
30. Hungary
31. Ghana
32. Sweden
33. Morocco
34. Cameroon
35. Russia
36. Canada
37. Solomon Islands
38. South Africa
39. Bulgaria
40. Vanuatu
41. Belgium
42. Brazil
43. Chile
44. Bosnia an Herzegovina
45. Colombia
46. Denmark
47. Latvia
