The RFL

The victorious England Wheelchair Rugby League team were given a heroes welcome yesterday (Thursday 21 November) as they arrived back in the UK just three days after beating Australia in the Wheelchair Rugby League Word Cup Final in Sydney.
 
The England squad were welcomed by RFL Chief Executive Nigel Wood and a vocal group of supporters as they paraded the World Cup Trophy through Manchester Airport. 
 
England lifted the World Cup after proceeding through the tournament unbeaten and eventually beating Australia 44-12 in the final.
 
England Wheelchair Rugby League Head Coach Phil Roberts spoke to www.englandrl.co.uk at the airport about the team’s fantastic achievement and their dedication to the cause in Australia.
 
Phil Roberts said: “It’s absolutely unbelievable; we really want to make sure that Wheelchair Rugby League develops and the RFL gave us the opportunity to fly out there and take part.
 
“We knew that if we wanted to make this game go to the next stage we had to bring the cup back and it was a job well done by the boys.
 
“I’m tremendously proud, the lads behaved really professionally all the time we were over there, we were always the first team training and the last team off the court.”
 
Meanwhile England Captain Martin Norris spoke of his pride in bringing the World Cup back to these shores and said that he hopes to see more people taking up the sport on the back of England’s success.
 
Martin Norris said: “It’s absolutely amazing - we’ve done it to try and restore a bit of English pride - It’s not sunk in yet.
 
“Hopefully this game will be massive; we need more teams to come forward, more players to make it bigger.”
 
If you are interested in getting involved in Wheelchair Rugby League in this country the next Wheelchair Rugby League Tag Festival will be held at The Lightwaves Leisure Centre, Wakefield on Saturday 13 December.
 
There will be coaching and competitions for existing players and teams as well as for emerging teams and interested individuals.
 
Equipment is available for first timers and the session is open to non disabled and disabled people. Please email Malcolm Kielty on mail@malcolmkielty.co.uk for details of this event.
 
For full Wheelchair Rugby League details please visit http://www.therfl.co.uk/community/page.php?id=308&areaid=140.

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