RIP Scott Bessant

Former Wales Dragonhearts rugby league international Scott Bessant has sadly died in hospital of complications from pneumonia, aged just 37. Pontypool-born, he was a keen rugby player from school, starting in the union code and playing for Pill Harriers before signing for Pontypool in 2006. He started playing rugby league for Newport Titans RLFC a …

Dr Richard Lawrence appointed as WRL’s chief medical officer

Wales Rugby League have appointed Dr Richard Lawrence (MBBS, BSc, MRCP, PhD, PGDip SEM) as chief medical officer as part of their ongoing strategic re-structure. As part of this new role, he will also be the lead on the return to play strategy when all is clear following the COVID-19 pandemic. He is also on …

Wales U19 team manager active in creation of COVID-19 hospitals

Wales Rugby League U19 team manager Wayne Mansell hasn’t had much time to miss rugby league in this lockdown period, as he’s been spending his time at work for OCS Group Ltd helping COVD-19 hospitals all around the country. Mansell, who hails from Pontypridd and has previously been involved with Rhondda Outlaws, has been a …

Wales ranked third in the world in Wheelchair Rugby League

Wales are ranked number three in the world as the official International Rugby League (IRL) Wheelchair Rugby League World Rankings are issued for the very first time. The world rankings only consider full international matches played over the past four-year period, and are based upon the result of the game and the strength of the …

Wales men's team captain Elliot Kear models some of the new kit

Welsh teams find out their RLWC2021 training bases

With 500 days to go until the opening fixture of Rugby League World Cup 2021 (RLWC2021), tournament organisers have announced that Wales’ men’s squad will be based in Preston and the wheelchair squad will locate themselves in Sheffield for next year’s tournament.

Codebreakers – it’s not the end

Wales Rugby League’s head of communications and historian, Ian Golden, reviews Carolyn Hitt’s BBC documentary and explains why he felt a few more minutes screentime would have added to the story. So who watched last night’s BBC2 documentary “Codebreakers”? If you didn’t, you missed a treat, but don’t worry, you can still see it on …

Wales propose to play England for the NHS Cup

Wales Rugby League have proposed to England that they face each other in a double header later in the year to celebrate and honour the NHS and key workers in each country. In addition, WRL CEO Gareth Kear has confirmed that if we are out of lockdown by the autumn and it’s safe to play …