It’s official – the Wales Wheelchair side will compete in the 2026 Rugby League World Cup in Australia.
International Rugby League this morning officially confirmed the names of six of the eight participants for the tournament with Wales joining 2022 winners England, 2026 hosts Australia and 2022 runners-up England, as we reached the semi-finals of that last event three years ago.
Also announced were USA, who qualify as the Americas’ lone representative, and New Zealand, who qualify for RLWC2026 as the Asia Pacific representative.
The remaining two Wheelchair berths for RLWC2026 will be decided by an application and invitation process, details of which will be announced very shortly by the IRL Wheelchair Advisory Group.
It’s great news for Wales, as we will now have two sides in Australia in 2026 after our women’s side qualified last year.
It will be Wales’ fourth successive Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup, having participated in all events since forming in 2012, reaching the semi-finals in 2013 and 2022.
Today’s announcement has also given Wales head coach Alan Caron a boost as he prepares for the forthcoming Wheelchair Celtic Cup at Archers Arena, Cardiff Metropolitan University on Saturday 24th May, when Wales will face Ireland and Scotland in a day-long event with tickets on sale now at https://wrl.wales/tickets. The training squad for this event was announced last month.
“It’s great that we can now plan for the World Cup,” Caron said. “We’ve another training session this Saturday, then many of the squad will be playing in the two sets of WRL Wheelchair League matches in the next few weeks, before the Celtic Cup on Saturday 24th May, so there’s a lot happening. We’ve plenty of people playing Wheelchair Rugby League in Wales now, so competition will be fierce, as I know everyone will want a place on the plane to Australia.”
Forthcoming Wales Wheelchair Rugby League schedule
Sunday 27 April – WRL Wheelchair Invitational League (Cwmbran Stadium) – Torfaen Tigers v Cardiff Blue Dragons (12.15pm), North Wales Crusaders v Swindon St George (1.35pm)
Saturday 3 May – WRL Wheelchair Invitational League (New College, Swindon) – Swindon St George v Cardiff Blue Dragons (3.15pm), Torfaen Tigers v North Wales Crusaders (4.35pm)
Saturday 24 May – Celtic Cup (Archers Arena, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cyncoed) – Wales v Scotland (11am), Scotland v Ireland (1pm), Wales v Ireland (3pm)
Saturday 7 June – WRL Wheelchair Invitational League (Deeside Leisure Centre, Queensferry) – North Wales Crusaders v Torfaen Tigers (11.15am), Cardiff Blue Dragons v Swindon St George (12.35pm)
