Wheelchair RL 4 Nations: Wales v Ireland

Four Nations off to a flyer

Wales 10 Ireland 58

The 2014 Wheelchair Rugby League Four Nations event kicked off at Medway Park, Gillingham with a resounding win for Ireland over Wales.

The game started with Wales with the ball and they almost got the first as Adam Button nearly broke through but he knocked the ball on just before crossing the try line.

Ireland then put their first possession to good use as George Hill broke though the Welsh defence and ran away to score the first try of the match on three minutes. The kick also from George Hill kick was good and Ireland had an early six point lead.

Ireland then added a second try as George Hill got  the ball form a good kick from Stu Walker and he our ran two of the Welsh defenders to score his second try of the match. He also added the extra two points to double Ireland's lead from six points to twelve.

George Hills then completed a 10 minute first half hat trick as Ireland drove again for the line and he got the ball form a good pass from Stu Walker and he held off James Roberts before touching the ball past the try line.

Wales did manage to get into the Irish half and they nearly scored as a combination of James Roberts and Mark Williams drove hard for the line but Williams knocked the ball on and Ireland got the ball back.

Wales finally got into the game as Adam Button capped off an excellent drive involving Mark Williams and got though two Irish defenders and zipped past Rachel Irwin to score a try.  Harry Jones got the extra two points with the Kick mean that they closed the gap to ten points.

Ireland added two more points as Wales conceded a penalty as they had the ball and failed to deliver it correctly; George Hill took an easy kick from in front the goal to increase the gap to twelve points.

Wales tried to get another try as the first half came to a close but they lost the ball on a turnover as they drove hard for the line.  

Half Time: Wales 6 Ireland 18

The Second half began with Wales having the ball as they looked to close the gap to Ireland.

But it was Ireland who scored the first try of the second half as a good pass from Stu Walker past the ball to George Hill who zipped past three static Welsh defenders and scored his fourth try of the match.

And George Hill then added a quick fifth try of the match as he got the ball in his own half and drove hard for the line; he easily zipped past yet more static Welsh defending to increase the gap to over twenty points.

Wales then started to make a small comeback as Ireland conceded a penalty and it was Harry Jones who took the kick form in front of the posts to score Wales's first points of the second half.

Wales then yet added two more points as Mark Williams was badly taken out by two Irish defenders, and it was Harry Jones who stepped up again to score an easy kick to bring Wales into double figures for this match.

Ireland added more misery on the Welsh as they added another try, as Rachel Irwin capped a good move by passing the ball to tony Martin and dove for the line to score another try for Ireland.  

Damian McCabe capped another move for Ireland as they drove forward; he zipped past Williams and dove for the line to score his first try of the match. George hill kicked the extra points to increase the gap to Wales to thirty points.

Ireland completed their dominance as they scored another try as Rachel Irwin dove the ball forward who then past the ball to George Hill and then to Tone Martin who held off his defender and got in the corner to score a well worked try.

George Hill then moved Ireland past the fifty point barrier as he got the ball from a good kick from McCabe and he zipped past the whole Welsh defence to score an easy try for Ireland.

And it was Hill who completed the scoring for Ireland as he was again too quick for the Welsh defence as he zipped past yet more static welsh defending to score his seventh try of the match.

Final Score: Wales 10 Ireland 58

Wales play this second game this Saturday afternoon as they are up against Scotland whilst Ireland are back action this Saturday evening as they play England in their second game of the tournament.

to catch the post match interviews on the came, click here:

https://soundcloud.com/mrjohnseager/wheelchair-4-nations-ire-malcolm-kielty

https://soundcloud.com/mrjohnseager/wheelchair-rl-4-nations-wales-alana-sargent

Line-ups:

Wales:

Phil Bousfield, Adam Button, Huw Chance, Andrew Rhys Higgins, Harry Jones, James Roberts, Mark Williams.

Ireland:

Josh McEvoy, Chris Sealek, George Hill, Tony Martin, Andy Atkinson, Rachel Irwin, Damian McCabe, Stu Walker.

Referee: Rhett Johnson and Matt Ball

In-goal Referee: Kieron Johnson and Richard Johnson