The Amateur Four Nations was a

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

competition contested annually by

Wales A Wales A , also known as Wales Dragonhearts, is an amateur international rugby league side that competed in the Skanska Amateur Four Nations. The players are picked from the Conference League South clubs and from the domestic competition the So ...

, Ireland A, Scotland A and England A. The teams from the Celtic nations would pick players from their domestic competitions, while England's squad would be picked from teams in the

Rugby League Conference The Rugby League Conference (RLC) (also known as the Co-operative Rugby League Conference as a result of sponsorship from The Co-operative Group), was a series of regionally based divisions of amateur rugby league teams spread throughout England, ...

. Players would also come from university teams and the armed forces. The competition, sometimes referred to as the Four Nations Championship, had previously been sponsored by Cheltenham Regency and Parkhouse Recruitment and Skanska. In 2014 the tournament was renamed the

Celtic Nations Cup Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

following England's withdrawal

History

Friendly matches between A sides were played between 1998 and 2001 with Scotland facing Wales twice and Ireland three times and Wales taking on England once. The success of these one-off friendly internationals saw the advent of the first Home Nations Championship in 2002. Until the final match between Wales and England at

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

, the tournament was low-key and had little publicity. But the England v Wales match received unprecedented national coverage with highlights on

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

and resulted in a shock Wales win. Wales would continue to "shock" for the next four years as they continued to win the title, only losing two matches in this period. It took the introduction of the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

to weaken the Wales side and allow England to win the title for the first time in 2006. Even then Wales only lost by two penalties and travelled with a weakened injury-laden side. The tournament has been successful in introducing new players to international rugby league in particular with the Celtic nations where some players have progressed to the senior side and also into semi-professional rugby league teams.

Overall Record

Results and Tables

2002

15 June - Scotland A 22 Wales A 40 at

Old Anniesland Old Anniesland is a rugby union ground in Glasgow, Scotland, with a capacity of approximately 3,500.. It is the home of Glasgow Hawks, who currently play in the Scottish Premiership. It is also used by Glasgow High Kelvinside. History Original ...

, Glasgow 16 June - Ireland A 10 England A 32 at Dublin 20 July - Scotland A 8 England A 58 at Glasgow 21 July - Wales A 52 Ireland A 20 at Old Penarthians RFC, Cardiff 18 August - Ireland A 70 Scotland A 10 at Belfast 15 September - England A 18 Wales A 28 at Prince of Wales Stadium,

2003

21 June - England A 28 Scotland A 20 at Haworth RLFC, York 28 June - Ireland A 32 Wales A 28 at Castle Avenue, Clontarf, Dublin, Clontarf, Dublin 27 July - Wales A 48 Scotland A 22 at Brewery Field, Bridgend 27 July - England A 34 Ireland A 14 at Prince of Wales Stadium,

9 August - Scotland A 48 Ireland A 20 at Cartha Queens Park RFC, Glasgow 14 September - Wales A 28 England A 18 at Talbot Athletic Ground, Aberavon

2004

15 May - Wales A 56 Ireland A 12 at Cardiff Athletics Stadium 13 June - Scotland A 26 England A 28 at Hamilton RFC 3 July - Scotland A 26 Wales A 34 at Glasgow 3 July - Ireland A 28 England A 24 at Castle Avenue, Clontarf, Dublin, Clontarf, Dublin 22 August - Ireland A 16 Scotland A 24 at Navan R.F.C. 12 September - England A 32 Wales A 34 at Butts Park Arena, Coventry

2005

12 June - Wales A 70 Scotland A 8 at Brewery Field, Bridgend 2 July - England A 8 Ireland A 26 at Odsal, Bradford 16 July - Ireland A 10 Wales A 18 at Terenure College RFC, Dublin 23 July - England A 16 Scotland A 17 at New River Stadium, London Skolars 14 August - Scotland A 44 Ireland A 16 at Glasgow 11 September - Wales A 32 England A 36 at Brewery Field, Bridgend

2006

Saturday 15 July - Ireland A 23 England A 44 at Terenure College RFC, Dublin Saturday 3 June - Ireland A 38 Scotland A 30 at St Marys RFC, Limerick Sunday 16 July - Scotland A 16 Wales A 22 at Lochinch RFC, Glasgow Sunday 13 August - Scotland A 14 England A 46 at Glasgow Saturday 19 August - Wales A 10 Ireland A 24 at Brewery Field, Bridgend Sunday 10 September England A 30 Wales A 26 at Post Office Road, Featherstone

2007

Saturday 16 June - Wales A 44 Scotland A 30 at Cardiff Demons, St Peters rugby ground Saturday 23 June - England A 22 Ireland A 28 at Leigh Sports Village Saturday 14 July - Ireland A 16 Wales 16 at Carlow Crusaders Cill Dara RFC, Kildare Saturday 14 July - England A 42 Scotland A 40 at Gateshead International Stadium Saturday 11 August - Scotland A 18 Ireland A 28 at

, Glasgow Sunday 19 August - Wales A 39 England A 18 at Blackwood Bulldogs, Glan-yr-Afon Park, Blackwood, Caerphilly, Blackwood

2008

Saturday 21 June - Scotland A 20 Wales A 62 at Cartha Queens Park RFC, Glasgow Sunday 6 July - Wales A 32 Ireland A 24 at South Road Ground, Porthcawl RFC Sunday 20 July - England A 8 Wales A 24 at Haworth Park, Kingston upon Hull, Hull Saturday 26 July - Ireland A 26 Scotland A 28 at Dublin Saturday 16 August - Scotland A 26 England A 24 at Edinburgh Saturday 6 September - Ireland A 36 England A 24 at Tullamore

2009

Saturday 13 June - Wales A 42 England A 4 at Brewery Field, Bridgend Saturday 13 June - Scotland A 22 Ireland A 30 at Edinburgh Saturday 11 July - Wales A 32 Scotland A 12 at Glan-yr-Afon Park, Blackwood, Caerphilly, Blackwood Saturday 11 July - England A 28 Ireland A 12 at Broughton Park RUFC, Manchester Saturday 8 August - Ireland A 28 Wales A 26 at ALSAA Sports Complex, Dublin Saturday 8 August - England A 24 Scotland A 40 at Staines RFC, London

2010

Sunday 13 June - Wales A 34 Ireland A 8 at The Gnoll, Neath Sunday 13 June - Scotland A 34 England A 32 at GHA RFC, Glasgow Saturday 10 July - England A 34 Wales A 30 at Somerset Vikings, Morganians RFC, Bridgwater Saturday 10 July - Ireland A 6 Scotland A 10 at Terenure College RFC, Dublin Saturday 14 August - Ireland A 12 England A 44 at Limerick Saturday 14 August - Scotland A 35 Wales A 22 at Edinburgh

2011

Saturday 25 June - England A 30 Scotland A 22 at Stanningley Rugby League club, Leeds Saturday 2 July - Ireland A 22 Wales A 54 at Limerick Saturday 16 July - Wales A 34 Scotland A 22 at Virginia Park (Caerphilly), Virginia Park, Caerphilly Saturday 16 July - England A 12 Ireland A 26 at Pennine Way stadium, Hemel Hempstead Saturday 6 August - Wales A 30 England A 24 at Virginia Park (Caerphilly), Virginia Park, Caerphilly Saturday 13 August - Scotland A 26 Ireland A 8 at Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow

2012

Saturday 23 June - Ireland A v Scotland A postponed Saturday 23 June - England A 56 Wales A 8 at Leigh Sports Village Saturday 21 July - Scotland A 48 England A 14 at Falkirk RFC Saturday 21 July - Wales A 28 Ireland A 26 at Bonymaen RFC Saturday 6 August - Ireland A 0 England A 38 at Bruff R.F.C., Limerick Saturday 13 August - Scotland A 36 Wales A 16 at Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow

2013

Sunday 14 July - Wales A 0 England A 54 at The Gnoll, Neath Saturday 3 August - Ireland A 14 Wales A 48 at Limerick Saturday 10 August - Scotland A 38 Ireland A 26 at Falkirk RFC Friday 23 August - England A 52 Ireland A 0 at Pennine Way stadium, Hemel Hempstead Saturday 24 August - Wales A 54 Scotland A 18 at Eirias Stadium, Colwyn Bay Saturday 15 September - England A 94 Scotland A 0 at Wath Brow Hornets ARLFC

Celtic Nations Cup

2014

Sunday 10 August - Scotland A 18 Wales A 16 at Woodside Sports Complex, Aberdeen Saturday 16 August - Ireland A 44 Scotland A 10 at Ashbourne RFC Saturday 23 August - Wales A 22 Ireland A 28 at Eirias Stadium, Colwyn Bay

References

A results

{{British_Rugby _League_links Rugby league in Wales Rugby league in Scotland Rugby league in England Rugby league in Ireland Amateur rugby league Rugby league-related lists National rugby league second teams