Toa Samoa players' heroics at last month's Rugby League World Cup (RLWC) in England has catapulted Samoa up the international rugby league rankings to now sit third overall.

Prior to the start of the RLWC tournament in England in October this year, Samoa was ranked seventh place but the team's history making grand final appearance to go down 30-10 to Australia has seen the island nation climb from seventh to third place behind New Zealand and Australia.

Samoa became the first tier two nation to qualify for a World Cup final, which sparked celebrations around the globe and shook up the men’s rankings at the end of 2022, according to the NRL.

The NRL reports that the Australian Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga said: "This is great news. I feel that we thoroughly deserve to get our No.1 ranking back considering the increased challenges now with the rise of the Pacific nations".

Tonga have dropped from second spot to fifth after being eliminated at the quarter-final stage of the World Cup by Samoa, while Lebanon have moved from 13th place to eighth after reaching the quarter-finals.

Wales are in 10th place, up from 16th, while Cook Islands have risen from 20th spot to 12th - one position ahead of Jamaica, who were previously 21st. 

The Toa Samoa playing group, which mainly comprises NRL players based in Australia, are scheduled to arrive in Samoa on Tuesday with Rugby League Samoa kicking off major fundraising radiothons last week to fund the Samoa leg of their visit to both Upolu and Savai'i as well as to finance cash incentives for the players.

Rugby League Samoa is yet to release a full program of activities as part of the team's first ever visit to Samoa, following a RLWC tournament.