England attained a 3-0 undefeated streak in the first ever Wheelchair Four Nations tournament this weekend in Hull featuring uncapped internationals from the home nations squads.

England Head Coach Steve McNamara was in attendance to present the medals and is a big fan of the sport.

He said: “It was fascinating. Rugby league in general is a highly competitive and physical encounter and you certainly see that in the Wheelchair game. It was great to see the enjoyment of the game in everyone that was here today. The enthusiasm of all that were involved was fantastic to see.”

“We are very inclusive as a sport and we certainly look after each other. Regardless of which bracket they are under, whether it’s the women, the Knights, our academy, they are all serving under the England banner and the Wheelchair team are a great addition to our Rugby League family.”

The opening day saw England and Wales claim confident victories. Wales started their campaign with a 20-6 verdict over Scotland while England bagged a 34-12 success against Ireland. Wales continued their winning ways as they closed out the first day with a 44-4 win over Ireland.

On the second day of competition, England claimed the title in spectacular style defeating Scotland and Wales without conceding a single score.

They were firing on all cylinders as they beat Scotland in a ten try 50-0 rout in the first game of the final day. The English raced into a 24-0 lead at the break with Medway Dragons’ Nik Brookes landing 3 of his 4 tries before the hooter.  

Brookes completed his tally two minutes into the break and two scores from Chris Greenhalgh and a try from Merseyside’s  Mike Stevenson sealed the comprehensive result.

Ireland featured next against Scotland and 16 year old Joshua Gardner opened the scoring as he touched down in the corner for a 4-0 Ireland advantage. The lead didn’t last for long as Declan Beddis crashed over for the Scots to level the scores.  

Beddis put Scotland in front with his second try of the game as he picked up  a loose ball and crossed over. Seconds before the break, Jacob Robinson broke through the line and pulled the scores back to honours even. At halftime, the teams were all square at 8-8.

The second half was a tight and tense affair until Scotland tired towards the end.  In the closing minutes Jodie Boyd Ward sealed Ireland’s sole victory of the tournament as she slammed the ball down to complete a 14-8 victory.

England and Wales were undefeated from 2 games heading into the decisive match of the competition. England’s Brookes continued his impressive scoring run as he was first to put points on the board for the English.  

Joe Coyd doubled the advantage as he weaved through the Welsh defence and grounded the second try of the game for an 8-0 head start.  After the break further scores from Coyd and Stevenson and a fantastic break from Ian Kenny completed a 34-0 Championship winning success.

Results:

Saturday July 7
Wales 20 Scotland 6
Ireland 12 England 34
Wales 44 Ireland 4

Sunday July 8
England 50-0 Scotland
Ireland 14-8 Scotland
England 34-0 Wales

Teams:

England
Joe Coyd, Chris Greenhalgh, Nik Brookes, Gina Smallwood, Ian Kenny, Nathan Holmes, Andrew Liddle, Mike Stevenson

Wales
Alan Caron, George Hill, Sam Eardley, Mike Porter, Chris Bennett, Martin Lane, Peter Grimes, Mike Hayes

Scotland
Graeme Stewart, Tom Sheridan, Declan Beddis, Sarah Ballie, Martin Beddis, Adam Mould, Graeme Hood

Ireland
Jacob Robinson, Joshua Gardner, Nathan Clarke, Jodie Boyd-Ward, Andy Gardner, Craig Grimes, Malcolm Kielty, Gail Buford