Wales ready to begin World Cup bid
SUPER League Young Player of the Year award nominees Regan Grace and Morgan Knowles are part of Wales’ squad for their Rugby League World Cup opener against Papua New Guinea tomorrow (0600BST).
St Helens’ 20-year old Grace, from Port Talbot, enjoyed a breakthrough season in Super League, while his Saints colleague Knowles wa sone of the stars of the Dragons’ European Championship win.
Wales have named 11 of the 17 players who clinched qualification to the World Cup with victory in Italy last October and the preliminary squad will be cut to 19 players today.
Head coach John Kear said: “Preparations have gone very well in Brisbane. All of the players are working very hard, showing an exemplary attitude and putting their hands up for selection.
“Unfortunately, only 13 players can start and four players can come off the interchange bench.
“I believe the players who get that opportunity will be a credit to themselves, their team and their country.
“However, the players omitted for this first 17 need to show a strength of character to keep their heads down, support their colleagues and, should the opportunity come along in a later game, grab it with both hands.”
After tomorrow’s game in Port Moresby, Wales fly to Townsville to take on Fiji on November 5 before meeting Ireland in their final group game in Perth a week later.
“Wales haven’t won a World Cup game since 2000.
“They didn’t qualify for 2008 and had a bit of an indifferent tournament in 2013.
“We are obviously hoping to rectify that and if you do that you might get out of your group.
“I think you need two wins out of three. We’ve got a tough inter-group game against Fiji, when you look at their squad and obviously PNG in PNG is going to be difficult.
“Ireland have got a strong squad as well so it is going to be difficult, but if you get the one win you never know what can happen.
“Should we get out of the group stages I think that would be the equivalent of Wales football getting to the semi-finals of the European Championship.”