Rugby League Ireland
| Rugby League Ireland | |
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| Founded | 1988 |
| RLIF affiliation | 2000 |
| RLEF affiliation | 2003 (Full member) |
| Responsibility | Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland |
| Headquarters | Dublin, Ireland |
| Key people | Dr Michael Molloy (Chair) |
| Competitions | Irish Elite League |
| Website | http://www.rli.ie/ |
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As of 30 June 2009
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| Nickname | Wolfhounds | ||||||
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| Governing body | Rugby League Ireland | ||||||
| Region | Europe | ||||||
| Head coach | Mark Aston | ||||||
| Captain | Liam Finn | ||||||
| Most caps | Bob Beswick (16) | ||||||
| Top try-scorer | Phil Cantillon (12) | ||||||
| Top point-scorer | Liam Finn (64) | ||||||
| RLIF ranking | 9th | ||||||
| First international | |||||||
 United States 22–24 Ireland  (Washington D.C., US; 17 March 1995) |
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| Biggest win | |||||||
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United States 6–64 Ireland (Dublin, Ireland; 10 May 2004) |
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| Biggest defeat | |||||||
 Russia 64–6 Ireland (Dublin, Ireland; 16 May 2004) |
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| World Cup | |||||||
| Appearances | 3 (first time in 2000) | ||||||
| Best result | Quarter-finals, 2008 | ||||||
Rugby League Ireland (RLI) is the internationally recognised governing body for the development of rugby league football in Ireland, having secured official recognition from the RLIF in 2000. It is recognised within the Irish Sports Council and took over the running of the international team entirely in 2008 for the World Cup.
Modern-day rugby league in Ireland began in 1989 when Brian Corrigan founded the Dublin Blues, consisting mostly of rugby union players who wanted to stay fit over the summer. The Blues competed against touring teams from Britain and surprised many of the touring sides with the quality of their play, scoring many memorable victories over British amateur opposition.
In early 1995 the British Rugby Football League development arm financed the position of a Development Officer for Ireland, providing a massive boost to the development of the game. In the same year Ireland formed its very first competitive team to play against the USA in Washington DC on St. Patrick's Day. Ireland won 24–22.
A strong student's framework was also established with teams representing Ireland at the Student's Rugby League World Cup in Australia in 1992 and the UK in 1996 comprising Ireland based and UK based players. In 1996 the tournament was based in Warrington, England and several members of the Irish national champion Dublin Blues represented the Ireland Student Team against USA, Western Samoa, New Zealand, Japan and Wales. These included Phelim Comerford, Gavin Lee, Robert McDonnell, Paul Ryan, Dara Maccarthy and Sean Cleary. In addition Gavin Gordon of the Bangor Vikings and London Broncos formed part of the team. The highlight of the tournament from an Irish perspective was a spirited performance against the eventual runners-up, Western Samoa, which saw the difference between the 2 teams being a single score until 10 minutes from time.
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