Rugby league World Cup in Newcastle: Remaining tickets, how to get to St James' Park and more

In addition to some of the impressive performances already happening at St James’ Park this football season, more top level sport is heading to the home of Newcastle United over the coming weeks when the Rugby League World Cup heads to the UK.

Two Newcastle stadiums will be hosting matches with Kingston Park Stadium also welcoming sides from across the globe.

The 16th edition of the tournament was rescheduled from last year due to the Covid 19 pandemic and subsequent withdrawals of Australia and New Zealand.

The women’s edition of the tournament will also be hosted by England across November, although no games from the eight team tournament will be hosted in the North East.

When is the Rugby League World Cup?

The competition will begin on Saturday, October 15 with two games and will end on Saturday, November 19 when the final will be played in Manchester.

Which Rugby League World Cup games are being hosted in Newcastle?

The tournament will kick off on Tyneside with England hosting Samoa in the opening fixture in Group A.

This will be the only fixture at Newcastle United’s home ground with the 10,200 capacity Kingston Park to the north west of the city centre hosting three group B games. These are Scotland vs Italy on Sunday, October 16, Fiji vs Italy on Saturday, October 22 and Fiji vs Scotland on Saturday, October 29.

Scotland will also be based in the city throughout the tournament

Elsewhere in the North East, Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium will be hosting one fixture on Sunday, October 30. This will see Tonga and the Cook Islands face off in group D.

Are Rugby League World Cup tickets still available to buy?

According to the tournament's ticketing portal, there are very few tickets remaining for the opening game of the tournament at St James’ Park, although seats are available in each of the price categories.

Regular tickets start at £30 for adults and £15 for children and rise as high as £110 per ticket.

Tickets at the Kingston Park fixtures are still currently available and start at £20 for adults and £10 for kids and rise to £55 per person.

How can I get to St James’ Park and Kingston Park for the Rugby League World Cup?

Both venues are easily accessible on the Metro, although St James’ Park is easily walkable from anywhere across the city centre. In addition to its own stop, the stadium can be reached from Haymarket and Monument stations.

Kingston Park also has its own stop which is a short walk from the venue This can be reached on airport-bound trains from the city centre.

Who are the favourites for the Rugby League World Cup?

Australia are currently the bookies’ odds on favourites to lift the trophy at Manchester’s Old Trafford.

Using odds from SkyBet, the Aussies have been given a price of 8/15 while New Zealand are priced at 4/1. England are third in oddsmaker’s predictions with odds of 11/1.