Wales Rugby League is the national

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ge ...

for

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 ...

football in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in 2 ...

. In 1907 The Welsh Northern Rugby Football Union was formed in

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the county ...

, but the English Northern Rugby Football Union refused it affiliation as they wanted the body located in the south of Wales and the Welsh body soon folded. In 1926 the English body, now called the

Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisati ...

(RFL) formed a Welsh commission in an attempt to convert

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

clubs to rugby league. The Wales Rugby League achieved governing body status in 2005 and employed its first professional chairman, Mark Rowley, in 2006. The WRL is responsible for the running of the game in Wales, for organising games and competitions and for selecting the squad for the national teams. In addition to managing professional and amateur national representative senior teams, WRL runs several age grade international sides from under 13s to a student team. The senior teams each play in annual European competitions, and the professional side compete in 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 ...

every 4 years. In 2006 the WRL achieved autonomous status from the

. In 2010, at a meeting of the

Rugby League International Federation The International Rugby League (IRL) is the global governing body for the sport of rugby league football. Previously known as the ''Rugby League Imperial Board'', the '' International Rugby League Board'' and latterly the ''Rugby League Internat ...

in Melbourne, Australia, the WRL were made full members of the Federation. WRL has 14 affiliated clubs, including four university clubs. Wales Rugby League is based at Sports Wales Centre in Cardiff The national team took part in the 2011

Gillette Four Nations The Rugby League Four Nations (known as the Ladbrokes Four Nations in 2016, for sponsorship purposes) was a biennial rugby league football tournament run in partnership between the Australian Rugby League Commission, Rugby Football League and N ...

tournament against Australia, England and New Zealand. The under 19s contingent, consisting of players from South Wales Scorpions and North Wales Crusaders, won the bronze medal at the inaugural Commonwealth Rugby League Championships, which took place in June 2014 in Glasgow. The gold medal was won by Papua New Guinea, with Australia winning silver. Former France and England head coach, John Kear, took over from Iestyn Harris as national head coach on 16 July 2014, a role he will undertake alongside his coaching role at Championship side Batley. His first games in charge were during the European Championships in Autumn 2014. Wales qualified for the 2017 World Cup in Australia, through beating Italy away in a playoff for the 2nd European spot. By finishing 2nd in the 2018 European Championship behind France and defeating Ireland 30–8 in Wrexham, they earned automatic qualification for the 2021 World Cup in England. Wales will also field a wheelchair side in the accompanying tournament. In 2019 they took part in the

Rugby League World Cup 9s The Rugby League World Cup 9s (currently known as the Downer Rugby League 9s World Cup for sponsorship purposes) is an international rugby league tournament played in the rugby league nines format of the sport. The competition will be held ever ...

tournament in Australia.

References

External links

* Rugby League Rugby league in Wales Rugby league governing bodies in Europe 2005 establishments in Wales Sports organizations established in 2005 {{sports-org-stub

See also

References

External links