Wales Rugby League will host the seventh annual Wheelchair Celtic Cup on Saturday May 7 from 11.15am at Plas Madoc Leisure Centre, Acrefair, Wrexham, facing Scotland and Ireland, as they look to win their sixth successive title and also prepare for this autumn’s Rugby League World Cup.
The Celtic Cup is arguably rugby league’s toughest single-day competition where three nations face each other over three full 80-minute games in six hours in order to become champions.
The order of this year’s matches are still to be confirmed, but Wales, as hosts, will play in the first and third match. Tickets and streaming details will also be announced shortly.
It’s the second time that Wales have hosted the competition, having staged the games at Deeside Leisure Centre in 2018, and Wales’ head coach Stephen Jones is delighted to see it back. He says: “We are really looking forward to this year’s Celtic Cup and using it as a springboard for the upcoming World Cup.
“With the news today about Ireland joining us and Scotland in the World Cup, it will really make this tournament one to win for all of us. We will of course be looking to make this our sixth trophy but know it will be hard-fought tournament as all the nations want the win in the build-up.”
Originally a two-legged affair between Scotland and Ireland in 2015, the first tournament was won by the players in green. Since then, with an enforced Covid-19 break in 2020, the Welsh have taken the title annually without losing a match.
The tournament will fall exactly two months short of the tenth anniversary of the Ireland, Scotland and Wales Wheelchair sides, all of whom kicked off on July 7, 2012.
Please go to https://rugbyleague.wales/wheelchair-fixtures-and-results for a full list of 2022 fixtures and a full record of all Wales Wheelchair Rugby League history.
CELTIC CUP HISTORY
18/04/2015 – Scotland 28-52 Ireland (Dundee International Sports Centre, Dundee)
24/05/2015 – Ireland 80-48 Scotland (Blackpool Sports Centre, Blackpool)
30/04/2016 – Ireland 26-76 Wales (Blackpool Sports Centre, Blackpool)
30/04/2016 – Ireland 58-58 Scotland (Blackpool Sports Centre, Blackpool)
30/04/2016 – Scotland 22-92 Wales (Blackpool Sports Centre, Blackpool)
29/04/2017 – Scotland 16-26 Ireland (The Peak, Stirling)
29/04/2017 – Wales 51-6 Ireland (The Peak, Stirling)
29/04/2017 – Scotland 0-71 Wales (The Peak, Stirling)
28/04/2018 – Wales 112-41 Scotland (Deeside Leisure Centre, Queensferry)
28/04/2018 – Ireland 68-36 Scotland (Deeside Leisure Centre, Queensferry)
28/04/2018 – Wales 84-30 Ireland (Deeside Leisure Centre, Queensferry)
27/04/2019 – Scotland 10-102 Wales (Calderdale College, Halifax)
27/04/2019 – Ireland 8-109 Wales (Calderdale College, Halifax)
27/04/2019 – Ireland 42-52 Scotland (Calderdale College, Halifax)
12/06/2021 – Scotland 32-52 Ireland (Oriam Performance Centre, Edinburgh)
12/06/2021 – Wales 96-16 Ireland (Oriam Performance Centre, Edinburgh)
12/06/2021 – Scotland 18-102 Wales (Oriam Performance Centre, Edinburgh)