RUGBY LEAGUE
WALES Students have named a strong 36-man training squad in preparation for the Student Rugby League World Cup in July 2017.
The squad contains a number of professional players as well as two who have also won full caps for Wales – Paul Emanuelli who played for Wales in 2014 and Morgan Evans of Gloucestershire All Golds who is now an established regular in the Welsh national side and could potentially make two trips to Australia next year.
Evans’ All Golds teammate Liam Rice-Wilson joins him in the squad, whilst South Wales Ironmen contribute eight players in Cobi Green, Ethan Coombes, Huw Parks, Lewis Hughes, Jordan Sheridan, Lloyd Selby-Smith, Macauley Harris and Sam Buckthought. Former South Wales first team players Connor Davies, Curtis Davies and Sion Jones (now all with Halifax), Marcus Webb (Hunslet), Jamie Murphy (Bridgend Ravens RU) and Jordan Howells (Ebbw Vale RU) are also included as is Matt Davies from North Wales Crusaders.
Wales Students coach Latham Tawhai said: “We had a great turnout for the recent training day so I’d firstly like to thank all the boys for their attendance, not only this week but also at the first session we had a few weeks back. We also had a number of coaches in attendance as well which is great for the players to be able to develop and gain experience from different people.
“I feel like I say this every year but I do believe we have an excellent crop of players coming through, all putting their hands up for one of the 24 places on the plane. No disrespect to players who have gone before but I think it’s the best group I’ve had during the last four years, certainly in terms of depth. Wales Rugby League do a fantastic job developing young players and many of them have progressed to be in contention for a World Cup place.
“We now have a core group who have been together for a couple of years, and this time around, we’ll be able to add a little bit of experience which will make a big difference. As you always get at this level, there are also some players with great athletic ability who are fairly new to the game and as they develop, they’ll offer plenty of positives to the squad in their own way.
“We’ll now spend the next few months working with this group before cutting the squad further in the lead-up to the tournament. They’ll have plenty of opportunity to show what they are capable of during this period.
“We’ll be looking to play a few games as part of our preparations and at this stage we’d welcome anyone who may be able to provide some opposition.
“It’s an exciting time to be involved in Student Rugby League and I think we’re all looking forward to the next few months and of course the World Cup itself.”
Wales Students are looking for funding to assist the players’ travels to the tournament and team manager Mark Jones is inviting companies, organisations and individuals to get involved.
Jones said: “This is a very exciting time for WRL and these young players, a chance of a lifetime. We have strength in depth this year and hope to go all the way to the World Cup Final but for our dream to become reality, we are looking for companies to sponsor the World Cup squad.”
Training squad: Lewis Harrison (Bangor University), Morgan Evans (University of Bath), Harry Boots, Dafydd Hellard, George Jenkins, Jordan Howells, Tom Morgan, Jamie Murphy (all Cardiff Metropolitan University), Huw Parks, Jordan Sheridan (both Cardiff University), Ethan Coombes, Cobi Green, Macauley Harris, Paul Emanuelli, Archie Snook (all Coleg y Cymoedd), Matt Davies, Liam Rice-Wilson (both University of Gloucestershire), Connor Davies, Curtis Davies, Sion Jones, David Phillips, Marcus Webb (all Leeds Beckett University), Connor Meese, Sam Owen (both Leeds Trinity University), Jack Bond (Liverpool John Moores University), Ieuan Jones (Northumbria University), Daniel Crabtree (University Of Nottingham), Adrian Chaima, Jordan Elphick, Alec Wheatley (all Nottingham Trent University), Lewis Hughes (Neath Port Talbot College), Jarad Hinen, Lloyd Selby-Smith (both University of South Wales), Gethin Evans, Louie Ford (Swansea University), Sam Buckthought (University of Worcester).