Wales pick 16-year-old Fionn McCabe for Wheelchair World Cup opener against England
Wales Wheelchair Rugby League head coach Alan Caron has named his side for the opening match of the 2026 World Cup against England in Wollongong, Australia. Kick-off is on Friday 30 October at 3.30pm local time, 4.30am in Wales.
Wales v England
- Squad named
- 10
- Play on the day
- 8
- Possible debutants
- 2
- Guaranteed matches
- 5
A debut at 16
North Wales Crusaders' Fionn McCabe and York RLFC's John Berriman are in line to make international debuts. McCabe turned 16 on 18 October, less than a fortnight before the tournament, and would become Wales Wheelchair's third-youngest debutant of all time.
Experience around them
Mark Williams has 42 Wales caps and vice-captain Stuart Williams has 36. Captain Jodie Boyd-Ward is set to make her 48th international appearance when she leads Wales out: 18 for Wales, seven for Ireland and 22 for England.
Sid Ramsey and Matthew Turner are in the side. Their fathers, Gareth Ramsey and Martin Turner, who were part of the 12-player World Cup squad, are not among the ten named for this match.
What Caron said
England are world champions. Caron said: “We know they’ll be tough, but we have five games and three weeks, and we know that we’re trying to plan not just for this game, but the second, third, fourth and fifth.”
How the squad works
A ten-player squad is named and eight play on the day. One of the two reserves, Lee Sargent and Andrew Higgins, is named as ninth player and can come in if there are head injuries.
Next fixtures
Wales play all matches at the WIN Entertainment Centre in Wollongong. They face Ireland on Tuesday 3 November and the USA on Friday 6 November. All eight nations are guaranteed five matches.
Wales squad v England
Sid Ramsey (Sheffield Eagles); Fionn McCabe (North Wales Crusaders); Jodie Boyd-Ward, captain (Leeds Rhinos); Jonathan Gill (North Wales Crusaders); Stuart Williams, vice-captain (Edinburgh Giants / North Wales Crusaders); Matthew Turner (Wigan Warriors / North Wales Crusaders); Mark Williams (Wigan Warriors / South Wales Jets); John Berriman (York RLFC). Reserves: Lee Sargent (Birmingham Hurricanes / Cardiff Blue Dragons); Andrew Higgins (Birmingham Hurricanes).