The Wales national wheelchair rugby league team represents Wales in

wheelchair rugby league Wheelchair rugby league is a wheelchair-based version of rugby league football, one of two recognised disability versions of the sport. It was developed by French rugby league player, coach and official, Wally Salvan in 2004. Unlike other wheelch ...

. They have competed at the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

, the European Championships and several tournaments within the British Isles, such as the Celtic Cup and Four Nations competitions.

History

In July 2012 Wales took part their first international competition, the Four Nations, a

round-robin tournament A round-robin tournament (or all-go-away-tournament) is a competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero ...

between

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and Wales. The tournament was held as part of preparations for the world cup taking place the following year. At the 2013 World Cup Wales progressed from the group stage with wins over Australia and Ireland and defeat to England. They lost their semi-final against France and finished third by defeating Australia in the third-place play-off. Wales were unsuccessful at the 2014 Four Nations and the 2015 European Championships where they lost all their matches. In 2016 they joined Scotland and Ireland to compete in the Celtic Cup, which had been first contested the previous year but became an annual three-team round-robin from 2016. Wales won the tournament in 2016 and have remained unbeaten in the Celtic Cup. At the 2017 World Cup Wales finished bottom of Group A with losses to Australia, England and France. They then lost to Italy in the group play-offs but defeated Spain to take fifth place. At the 2021 World Cup Wales suffered their heaviest ever defeat by losing their opening match 6–154 to France. However, victories over the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and Scotland meant Ireland progressed to the knockout phase of the tournament where they lost to England in the semi-final. Stuart Williams was one of the ten players named in the RLWC2021 Wheelchair Team of the Tournament.

Squad

Competitive record

World Cup

Celtic Cup

Results

Records

*Biggest win: 116–6 ''v.'' Scotland (7 May 2022) *Biggest defeat: 6–154 ''v.'' France (4 November 2022)

Honours

* Celtic Cup: (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022)

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wales national wheelchair rugby league team Parasports in Wales Rugby league in Wales National wheelchair rugby league teams