WITH exactly six months to go to the tournament, Rugby League World Cup 2013 organisers have announced kick-off times for all matches.

The first two matches will follow the Opening Ceremony at The Millennium Stadium, Cardiff with England v Australia starting the tournament at 2.30pm. Host nation Wales will then face new boys Italy at 4.30pm.

The ‘Big Hit’ semi-final double header will see the best four teams in the tournament go head to head at Wembley Stadium. The first game (Winner of Quarter-final 1 v Winner of Quarter-Final 3) will kick off at 1.00pm and the second (Winner of Quarter-final 2 v Winner of Quarter-final 4) will start at 3.30pm.

The Rugby League World Cup Final, which will be shown live on BBC1, will kick off at 2.30pm, at Old Trafford.

All of the games at the group stages which take place on a week day will be evening kick-offs. Where two games happen in a day at separate locations there is a minimum of four hours between kick-offs.

RLWC2013 Tournament General Manager, Sally Bolton said “After the recent confirmation of the BBC and Premier Sports as broadcasters for the tournament, we’re delighted to now announce the kick-off times.

“It’s great that with six months to go fans who have been waiting to buy tickets and plan trips around the tournament can do so. We expect demand for all tickets at all games to be high, today and over the weekend.

“Despite the wait for information the ‘big three’ games have been selling consistently well. So fans considering attending those still need to act quickly to make sure they’ll be there at the best international Rugby League tournament there has ever been.”

RLWC2013 Tournament Schedule

Group games - Round one

1. Saturday 26th October

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Australia v England (Group A) 14:30

2. Saturday 26th October

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales v Italy (C/D) 16:30

3. Sunday 27th October

MS3 Craven Park, Hull, PNGv France (B) 16:00

4. Sunday 27th October

Halliwell Jones, Warrington, New Zealand v Samoa (B) 18:00

5. Monday 28th October

Spotland Stadium, Rochdale, Fiji v Ireland (A) 20:00

6. Tuesday 29th October

Derwent Park, Workington, Tonga v Scotland (C) 20:00

7. Wednesday 30th October

The Memorial Stadium, Bristol, USA v Cook Islands (D) 20:00

Group games - Round two

8. Friday 1st November

Parc des Sports, Avignon, New Zealand v France (B) 20:00*

9. Saturday 2nd November

John Smith’s, Huddersfield, England v Ireland (A) 14:30

10. Saturday 2nd November

Langtree Park, St Helens, Australia v Fiji (A) 20:00

11. Sunday 3rd November

Glyndŵr University RS, Wrexham, Wales v USA (D) 14:00

12. Sunday 3rd November

Derwent Park, Workington, Scotland v Italy (C) 16:00

13. Monday 4th November

MS3 Craven Park, Hull, PNG v Samoa (B) 20:00

14. Tuesday 5th November

Leigh Sports Village, Leigh, Tonga v Cook Islands (C/D) 20:00 Group games - Round three

15. Thursday 7th November

Salford City Stadium, Salford, Scotland v USA (C/D) 20:00

16. Friday 8th November

Headingley Carnegie, Leeds, New Zealand v PNG(B) 20:00

17. Saturday 9th November

KC Stadium, Hull, England v Fiji (A) 14:30

18. Saturday 9th November

Thomond Park, Limerick, Australia v Ireland (A) 20:00

19. Sunday 10th November

The Gnoll, Neath, Wales v Cook Islands (D) 14:00

20. Sunday 10th November

The Shay, Halifax, Tonga v Italy (C) 16:00

21. Monday 11th November

Gilbert Brutus, Perpignan, France v Samoa (B) 20:00*

Quarter-finals

22. Friday 15th November

Headingley Carnegie, Leeds Winner B v Winner C (QF1) 20:00

23. Saturday 16th November

Glyndŵr University RS, Wrexham, Winner A v Winner D (QF2) 13:00

24. Saturday 16th November

DW Stadium, Wigan, Runner Up A v 3rd Place B (QF3) 20:00

25. Sunday 17th November

Halliwell Jones, Warrington, Runner Up B v 3rd Place A (QF4) 15:00

Semi-finals

26. Saturday 23rd November

Wembley Stadium, London, Winner Q/F 1 v Winner Q/F 3 (SF1) 13:00

27. Saturday 23rd November

Wembley Stadium, London, Winner Q/F 2 v Winner Q/F 4 (SF2) 15:30

The Rugby League World Cup Final

28. Saturday 30th November,

Old Trafford, Manchester, Winner S/F 1 v Winner S/F 2 14:30

NOTE:

All kick off times shown are local (please note games 8 and 21 will kick off at 19:00 GMT) and are subject to change