# 2021 Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup

The 2021 Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup was the fourth staging of the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup, and was one of three major tournaments part of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. The tournament was held in England from 3 November to 18 November 2022. It was originally planned to be held in November 2021 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in England. It was the first occasion on which the wheelchair rugby league competition took place concurrently with the men's and women's tournaments. The competition was also the first time that participants in the wheelchair tournament received the same participation fees as players in the other competitions and the first time that prize money was awarded.
The tournament was won by England who beat France 28–24 in the final on 18 November 2022.

## Teams
### Qualification

England, as hosts, and France, as holders of the world cup were given automatic entry to the competition. Other nations were invited to submit entries and six were chosen against a range of criteria including current international and domestic infrastructure and plans for growth. The six nations selected to join England and France in the tournament are Australia, Norway, Scotland, Spain, United States and Wales. Norway was replaced by Ireland due to the former being unable to prepare sufficiently for the tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic related issues.

### Draw

The teams were drawn into two groups of four. The two seeded teams were England (Group A) and France (Group B). The draw was made at Buckingham Palace on 16 January 2020. Teams from pool 1 were drawn by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, pool 2 was drawn by Katherine Grainger and pool 3 by Jason Robinson. Norway was replaced by Ireland after the draw. The fixtures were announced on 21 July 2020. All the games in the tournament weree played as double headers.
| Seeded | Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 |
| England  France | Australia  Wales | Spain  Scotland | Norway  United States |

### Squads

Each nation named 12-player squads to compete in the tournament.

## Venues
### Stadium locations

The tournament was played at three venues, the Copper Box Arena in London was used for the Group A games, the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield hosted the Group B games as well as both semi-finals. These venues were confirmed when the revised schedule for the tournament was issued. The final was scheduled for the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool but the postponement of the tournament from 2021 to 2022 resulted in a venue change with the final played in Manchester at Manchester Central.

### Team base camp locations

Two locations were used by the national squads to stay and train before and during the World Cup tournament;
* London: Australia, England, Norway and Spain
* Sheffield: France, Scotland, United States and Wales

## Officiating

The match officials for the tournament were announced on 5 October 2022.
* David Butler (England)
* David Roig (France)
* Grant Jackson (Wales)
* Kim Abel (Wales)
* Laurent Abrial (France)
* Matthew Ball (England)
* Ollie Cruickshank (Scotland)
* Steven Hewson (Australia)

## Warm-up matches

* 8 October 2022 14:00 BST (UTC+01:00)
| Ireland | 52–67 | Wales |
| | Report | |
* Calderdale Leisure Centre, Halifax
* 26 October 2022 14:00 BST (UTC+01:00)
| British Army | v | Australia |
* Medway Park Sports Centre, Gillingham
* 29 October 2022 14:00 BST (UTC+01:00)
| Wales | 38–86 | Australia |
| | Report | |
* Cardiff Met University Cyncoed Campus, Cardiff
* 31 October 2022 14:00 BST (UTC+01:00)
| Scotland | 1–129 | Australia |
| | Report | |
* Medway Park Sports Centre, Gillingham

## Group stage
### Group A

All six matches in group A were played at Copper Box Arena in London.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | England | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 263 | 20 | +243 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Australia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 136 | 88 | +48 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Spain | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 99 | 188 | −89 | 2 | |
| 4 | Ireland | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 50 | 252 | −202 | 0 | |
* 3 November 2022 17:00 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| Ireland | 32–55 | Spain |
| Tries: Johnston (4) 31', 46', 50', 78' Roberts 3' McCarthy 65' Goals: Johnston (4) | Report (RLWC) Report (ERL) | Tries: Lacombe 7' Monedero 59' Martin (2) 5', 62' Gonzalez (2) 23', 69' Berty (3) 9', 26', 45' Goals: Gonzalez (8) Seron Drop goals: Gonzalez |
* Copper Box Arena, London Attendance: 3,033 Referees: Laurent Abrial (France), Kim Abel (Wales) Touch judges: Matthew Ball (England), David Roig (France) Player of the Match: Theo Gonzalez (Spain)
* 3 November 2022 19:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| England | 38–8 | Australia |
| Tries: Coyd (2) 19', 22' Brown (2) 25', 35' Collins (2) 32', 71' King 47' Goals: Hawkins Collins (4) | Report (RLWC) Report (ERL) | Tries: Karim 10' Goals: Karim McKenna |
* Copper Box Arena, London Attendance: 3,033 Referees: Ollie Cruickshank (Scotland), David Roig (France) Touch judges: Kim Abel (Wales), Steven Hewson (Australia) Player of the Match: Jack Brown (England)
* 6 November 2022 12:00 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| England | 104–12 | Spain |
| Tries: Brown (2) 1', 6' Simpson 13' Boardman (2) 15', 33' Halliwell 21' Hawkins (5) 31', 37', 39', 70', 77' Roberts (3) 41', 47', 74' King 50' Coyd (2) 57', 62' Rigby 67' Goals: Boardman (3/5) Collins (7/7) Roberts (6/6) | Report | Tries: Gonzalez 3' Monedero 8' Goals: Gonzalez (2/3) |
* Copper Box Arena, London Attendance: 3,268 Referees: Kim Abel (Wales), Laurent Abriel (France) Touch judges: David Roig (France), Grant Jackson (Wales) Player of the Match: Robert Hawkins (England)
* 6 November 2022 14:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| Australia | 76–18 | Ireland |
| Tries: Karim (2) 6', 74' Tannock 9' McKenna (3) 15', 37', 69' Grove (3) 28', 35', 37' Arbuckle 38' Hill 45' Luff (2) 59', 62' Goals: McKenna (10/10) Karim (2/3) | Report | Tries: Roberts 20' McCarthy (2) 22', 65' Goals: Johnston (3/3) |
* Copper Box Arena, London Attendance: 3,268 Referees: Matthew Ball (England), Grant Jackson (Wales) Touch judges: Laurent Abrial (France), David Roig (France) Player of the Match: Bayley McKenna (Australia)
* 9 November 2022 11:00 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| Australia | 52–32 | Spain |
| Tries: Arbuckle 3' Karim (2) 9', 15' Hill (4) 28', 32', 34', 48' Cory Cannane 62' Grove 72' Goals: McKenna (3/4) Karim (3/6) Craig Cannane (2/2) | Report | Tries: Gonzalez (2) 12', 44' Monedero (2) 22', 76' Lacombe 50' Martin 53' Goals: Gonzalez (3/5) Seron (1/1) |
* Copper Box Arena, London Attendance: 3,847 Referees: David Butler (England), David Roig (France) Touch judges: Grant Jackson (Wales), Steve Hewson (Australia) Player of the Match: James Hill (Australia)
* 9 November 2022 13:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| England | 121–0 | Ireland |
| Tries: Bechara (2) 3', 15' Coyd (4) 6', 17', 28', 78' Halliwell (2) 9', 24' Simpson (4) 12', 20', 75', 80' Brown (3) 32', 38', 46' Collins (3) 35', 54', 59' King 62' Rigby (2) 65', 71' | Report | |
* Copper Box Arena, London Attendance: 3,847 Referees: Oliver Cruickshank (Scotland), Grant Jackson (Wales) Touch judges: David Roig (France), Steve Hewson (Australia) Player of the Match: Joe Coyd (England)

### Group B

All six matches in group B were played at English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | France | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 350 | 27 | +323 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Wales | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 126 | 222 | −96 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | United States | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 100 | 207 | −107 | 2 | |
| 4 | Scotland | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 92 | 212 | −120 | 0 | |
* 4 November 2022 11:00 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| France | 154–6 | Wales |
| Tries: Alazard (6) 1', 3', 14', 21', 25', 51' Clausells (2) 5', 53' Guttadoro (2) 16', 74' Bourson (5) 10', 18', 23', 33', 45' Penella (3) 19', 37', 48' Abassi (5) 35', 42', 55', 69', 78' Vargas (2) 38', 71' Hivernat 40', 67' Goals: Alazard (13) Guttadoro (4) Penella (6) | Report | Tries: Jones 27' Goals: Halsey |
* English Institute of Sport, Sheffield Attendance: 1,129 Referees: David Butler (England), Matthew Ball (England) Touch judges: Grant Jackson (Wales), Steven Hewson (Australia) Player of the Match: Lionel Alazard (France)
* 4 November 2022 13:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| Scotland | 41–62 | United States |
| Tries: Young (4) 6', 13', 17', 67' Grant (2) 22', 51' Blackmore 25' Willans 43' Goals: Willans (4) | Report (RLWC) Report (ERL) | Tries: Johnson (4) 1', 3', 28', 46' Wooloff (2) 20', 31' Lind (2) 34', 40' Townsend (4) 48', 56', 66', 70' Goals: Johnstone (5) Stewart Townsend |
* English Institute of Sport, Sheffield Attendance: 1,129 Referees: Grant Jackson (Wales), Steven Hewson (Australia) Touch judges: Matthew Ball (England), Ollie Cruickshank (Scotland) Player of the Match: Mackenzie Johnson (United States)
* 7 November 2022 17:00 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| France | 80–15 | Scotland |
| Tries: N Clausells (4) 1', 6', 31', 40' Mautz (2) 16', 44' Verdi (2) 19', 55' Vargas (2) 22', 67' Gattadoro 29' Abassi (2) 26', 59' Penella 53' Goals: N Clausells (7/9) Duhalde (5/5) | Report | Tries: Young 13' Mellon 63' Grant 75' Goals: Grant (1/2) |
* English Institute of Sport, Sheffield Attendance: 1,200 Referees: Steven Hewson (Australia), Ollie Cruickshank (Scotland) Touch judges: Grant Jackson (Wales), David Butler (England) Player of the Match: Arno Vargas (France)
* 7 November 2022 19:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| Wales | 50–32 | United States |
| Tries: Preece (2) 13', 59' S. Williams (3) 25', 29', 39' Halsey 31' Jones 46' Higgins 61' Trigg-Turner 67' Goals: Halsey (5/6) Higgins (2/3) | Report | Tries: Townsend (4) 8', 19', 54', 72' Johnson 11' Wooloff 36' Goals: Johnstone (3/4) Stewart (1/2) |
* English Institute of Sport, Sheffield Attendance: 1,200 Referees: David Roig (France), David Butler (England) Touch judges: Matthew Ball (England), Steven Hewson (Australia) Player of the Match: Stuart Williams (Wales)
* 10 November 2022 11:00 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| France | 116–6 | United States |
| Tries: Bourson (5) 1', 7', 9', 17', 38' Hivernat (3) 11', 20', 23' Abassi (5) 13', 18', 63', 75', 78' Duhalde (2) 34', 60' G Clausells (3) 41', 45', 51' Mautz 55' N Clausells 58' Alazard 65' Goals: Alazard (9/11) G Clausells (3/4) Duhalde (4/6) | Report | Tries: Johnson 72' Goals: Stewart (1/1) |
* English Institute of Sport, Sheffield Attendance: 1,129 Referees: Matthew Ball (England), Kim Abel (Wales) Touch judges: David Butler (England), David Roig (France)
* 10 November 2022 13:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| Wales | 70–36 | Scotland |
| Tries: Trigg-Turner (3) 2', 12', 53' Preece 5' Higgins (4) 16', 46', 48', 74' Lane (2) 34', 78' Jones (2) 36', 42' Goals: Higgins (9/11) M. Williams (2/2) | Report | Tries: Grant (4) 8', 38', 70', 80' Willans 22' Mellon (2) 26', 57' Goals: Willans (1/3) Dan Grant (3/4) |
* English Institute of Sport, Sheffield Attendance: 1,129 Referees: Laurent Abrial (France), Steve Hewson (Australia) Touch judges: Kim Abel (Wales), Grant Jackson (Wales) Player of the Match: Andrew Higgins (Wales)

## Knockout stage

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 13 November – Sheffield | 13 November – Sheffield |
| France | 84 |
| France | 84 | 18 November – Manchester | 18 November – Manchester |
| Australia | 40 | 18 November – Manchester | 18 November – Manchester |
| Australia | 40 | France | 24 |
| 13 November – Sheffield | 13 November – Sheffield | | France | 24 |
| 13 November – Sheffield | 13 November – Sheffield | England | 28 |
| England | 125 | England | 28 |
| Wales | 22 | | |

### Semi-finals

Both semi-finals were played at English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.
* 13 November 2022 12:00 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| France | 84–40 | Australia |
| Tries: Guttadoro (3) 1', 5', 60' Bourson (5) 6', 8', 17', 21', 26' N Clausells (2) 28', 78' Abassi (4) 31', 35', 39', 52' Duhalde 75' Goals: Alazard (7/8) G Clausells (5/7) | Report | Tries: Grove (2) 3', 69' Schumacher 13', 58' Karim 41' Luff 62' Craig Cannane 73' Goals: McKenna (4/5) Karim (2/2) |
* English Institute of Sport, Sheffield Attendance: 1,318 Referees: Ollie Cruickshank (Scotland), David Butler (England) Touch judges: Kim Abel (Wales), Grant Jackson (Wales) Player of the Match: Jeremy Bourson (France)
* 13 November 2022 14:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| England | 125–22 | Wales |
| Tries: Bechara (4) 2', 4', 7', 32' Coyd (4) 11', 20', 23', 43' Brown (8) 26', 30', 34', 36', 41', 50', 57', 59' Hawkins (2) 28', 77' King 46' Collins 53' Roberts 68' Simpson 75' Goals: Hawkins (7/8) Collins (10/11) Roberts (1/3) Drop goals: Roberts | Report | Tries: Trigg-Turner 17' Preece 49' S. Williams 55' Caron 65' Goals: Preece (1/2) Higgins (2/2) |
* English Institute of Sport, Sheffield Attendance: 1,318 Referees: Laurent Abriel (France), Matthew Ball (England) Touch judges: David Roig (France), Steven Hewson (Australia) Player of the Match: Jack Brown (England)

### Final

The final was played at Manchester Central Convention Complex in Manchester, the day before the men's and women's finals.
* 18 November 2022 19:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| France | 24–28 | England |
| Tries: Alazard 10' Abassi 29' G Clausells 57' Goals: Alazard (1/1) N Clausells (5/6) | Report | Tries: Halliwell (2) 19', 78' Brown (2) 39', 53' King 42' Goals: Hawkins (1/1) Collins (3/5) |
* Manchester Central, Manchester Attendance: 4,526 Referees: Ollie Cruickshank (Scotland), Laurent Abrial (France) Touch judges: David Butler (England), David Roig (France) Player of the Match: Tom Halliwell (England)

## Team of the Tournament

Between the Semi-finals and final the RLWC2021 organisers announced the Wheelchair Team of the Tournament:
* Lionel Alazard – France
* Seb Bechara – England
* Jérémy Bourson – France
* Jack Brown – England
* Nicolas Clausells – France
* Joe Coyd – England
* Theo Gonzalez – Spain
* McKenzie Johnson – United States
* Bayley McKenna – Australia
* Stuart Williams – Wales