England rout Wales 98-18 in Wollongong to start Wheelchair World Cup defence

England defeated Wales 98-18 in Wollongong to begin their defence of the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup on 30 October 2026. Rob Hawkins finished with 11 tries and four conversions for an individual tally of 52 points in the victory.

Two-time winners England crossed for 18 tries to Wales' three, with Nathan Collins scoring four tries and making nine of 11 conversion attempts. Joe Coyd, Jack Brown and Mason Billington also touched down for England.

Hawkins described the result as a base to build on while criticising aspects of the performance. "Today's performance was a decent start for the team," said Hawkins. "It wasn't the best match we could have played. "We definitely felt like we were not playing to our standards, giving away silly errors and giving away points. "We're building so we can peak at the right time. Today was a stepping stone really."

Wales remained competitive for the opening 20 minutes, with Stuart Williams and Sid Ramsey scoring to reduce the deficit to 18-12. England then produced 28 unanswered points to lead 46-12 at half-time and added a further 10 tries in the second half. Ramsey grabbed a second score for Wales in the 71st minute.

Elsewhere in Group A, Ireland set a new international points mark by beating the United States 110-10. Ireland's 20-try haul included seven tries from Joseph Calcott and six from Cian Horgan, surpassing the 92 points they put past Scotland in last year's Celtic Cup.

England's next match is against the United States on 3 November at 07:30 GMT, while Ireland play Wales earlier the same day at 05:00 GMT.