# Wales national wheelchair rugby league team

The Wales national wheelchair rugby league team represents Wales in wheelchair rugby league. They have competed at the World Cup, 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 between England, Ireland, Scotland 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 until 2023 were 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 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.
In February 2024, Wales travelled to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to play a two-match series against the United States. Wales won both matches.

## Competitive record
### World Cup

World Cup Record :
| Year | Finish |
| 2008 | Did not enter |
| 2013 | 3rd |
| 2017 | 5th |
| 2021 | Semi-final |

### Celtic Cup

Celtic Cup results by year:  Wales :
| Opponent \ Year | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| Ireland | x | W | W | W | W | – | W | W | D | L |
| Scotland | x | W | W | W | W | – | W | W | W | L |
| Finish: | x | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
* 2015: Wales did not take part – Ireland and Scotland played each other twice
* 2020: The tournament was cancelled in 2020

### Results and fixtures

| Date | Opponent | Score | Competition |
| 7 July 2012 | Scotland | 20–6 | 2012 Four Nations |
| 7 July 2012 | Ireland | 44–4 | 2012 Four Nations |
| 8 July 2012 | England | 0–34 | 2012 Four Nations |
| 3 July 2013 | Ireland | 104–6 | 2013 World Cup Group stage |
| 6 July 2013 | Australia | 25–16 | 2013 World Cup Group stage |
| 9 July 2013 | England | 6–50 | 2013 World Cup Group stage |
| 11 July 2013 | France | 30–71 | 2013 World Cup Semi-final |
| 13 July 2013 | Australia | 16–14 | 2013 World Cup 3rd-place play-off |
| 13 September 2014 | Ireland | 10–58 | 2014 Four Nations |
| 13 September 2014 | Scotland | 14–34 | 2014 Four Nations |
| 14 September 2014 | England | 6–80 | 2014 Four Nations |
| 9 August 2015 | Ireland | 29–46 | Friendly |
| 24 September 2015 | Scotland | 25–26 | 2015 European Championship |
| 25 September 2015 | England | 8–56 | 2015 European Championship |
| 25 September 2015 | France | 5–52 | 2015 European Championship |
| 26 September 2015 | Ireland | 36–46 | 2015 European Championship |
| 30 April 2016 | Ireland | 76–26 | 2016 Celtic Cup |
| 30 April 2016 | Scotland | 92–22 | 2016 Celtic Cup |
| 24 September 2016 | Exiles | 42–18 | 2016 Four Nations |
| 24 September 2016 | Scotland | 41–28 | 2016 Four Nations |
| 25 September 2016 | England | 14–56 | 2016 Four Nations |
| 25 September 2016 | England | 26–52 | 2016 Four Nations Final |
| 29 April 2017 | Ireland | 51–6 | 2017 Celtic Cup |
| 29 April 2017 | Scotland | 71–0 | 2017 Celtic Cup |
| 20 July 2017 | Australia | 24–72 | 2017 World Cup Group stage |
| 22 July 2017 | England | 32–78 | 2017 World Cup Group stage |
| 24 July 2017 | France | 10–118 | 2017 World Cup Group stage |
| 25 July 2017 | Italy | 24–105 | 2017 World Cup Group stage play-off |
| 27 July 2017 | Spain | 66–45 | 2017 World Cup 5th-place play-off |
| 28 April 2018 | Scotland | 112–41 | 2018 Celtic Cup |
| 28 April 2018 | Ireland | 84–30 | 2018 Celtic Cup |
| 27 April 2019 | Scotland | 102–10 | 2019 Celtic Cup |
| 27 April 2019 | Ireland | 109–8 | 2019 Celtic Cup |
| 28 September 2019 | Scotland | 90–12 | 2019 Tri-Nations |
| 28 September 2019 | England | 24–48 | 2019 Tri-Nations |
| 29 September 2019 | England | 40–54 | 2019 Tri-Nations Final |
| 12 June 2021 | Ireland | 96–16 | 2021 Celtic Cup |
| 12 June 2021 | Scotland | 102–18 | 2021 Celtic Cup |
| 26 June 2021 | England | 22–102 | Friendly |
| 16 October 2021 | Ireland | 62–48 | Friendly |
| 30 October 2021 | Scotland | 70–34 | Friendly |
| 7 May 2022 | Ireland | 64–22 | 2022 Celtic Cup |
| 7 May 2022 | Scotland | 116–6 | 2022 Celtic Cup |
| 8 October 2022 | Ireland | 67–52 | Friendly |
| 29 October 2022 | Australia | 38–86 | Friendly |
| 4 November 2022 | France | 6–154 | 2021 World Cup Group stage |
| 7 November 2022 | United States | 50–32 | 2021 World Cup Group stage |
| 10 November 2022 | Scotland | 70–36 | 2021 World Cup Group stage |
| 13 November 2022 | England | 22–125 | 2021 World Cup Semi-final |
| 18 June 2023 | Ireland | 30–30 | 2023 Celtic Cup |
| 18 June 2023 | Scotland | 76–30 | 2023 Celtic Cup |
| 14 January 2024 | British Army | 34–24 | Test series warm-up game |
| 2 February 2024 | United States | 78–24 | Two match test series |
| 3 February 2024 | United States | 52–22 | Two match test series |
| 8 June 2024 | Scotland | 52–64 | 2024 Celtic Cup |
| 8 June 2024 | Ireland | 32–68 | 2024 Celtic Cup |

## Records

IRL Wheelchair World Rankingsvte :
| Official rankings as of December 2024 ||||
| Rank | Change | Team | Pts % |
| 1 | | England | 100 |
| 2 | | France | 96 |
| 3 | 1 | Ireland | 55 |
| 4 | 1 | Australia | 52 |
| 5 | | Wales | 47 |
| 6 | | Scotland | 38 |
| 7 | 1 | Spain | 27 |
| 8 | 1 | United States | 25 |
| 9 | | New Zealand | 5 |
| 10 | 1 | Italy | 0 |
| Complete rankings at INTRL.SPORT ||||
* Biggest win: 116–6 v. Scotland (7 May 2022)
* Biggest defeat: 6–154 v. France (4 November 2022)

## Honours

* Celtic Cup (7): 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023