England coach praises Wheelaroos as World Cup opener lives up to hype

England coach Tom Coyd believes the Wheelaroos are genuine World Cup contenders, despite going down 38-8 before a record wheelchair rugby league crowd at London’s Copper Box Arena and millions of television viewers in the UK and around the globe.

The Australian side were playing their first full international since losing a two Test home series to England in 2019 and turned in a spirited performance but Queensland-based Jack Brown proved the difference for the World Cup hosts in a brutal match that had the sport trending on Twitter.

Wheelaroos coach Brett Clark was happy with the aggressive style of play of his team that he admitted may be described as “bullying” by opponents and predicted they would improve as the tournament continued.

Coyd agreed, and said Australia was a much stronger side than 2019, when England won back-to-back Tests 84-28 and 58-20.

“They have got miles better since the last time we played them in 2019 and they are huge contenders for the tournament, considering that is their first proper match they have played over here in a long time,” Coyd said.

“I know that they have had a couple of warm-up games but they are going to get better as the tournament goes on. They were about as good as we thought they were going to be and that was very good.”

Clark said his players may have nervous or over-excited at the start of the game but was happy with their performances in the second half.

“We started off well, we got points, but I wasn’t worried about what points we scored, I was more worried about how we contained,” he said.

“To let them score 38 points, if you look at past matches against England that is probably not a bad result, but it is not the result we wanted.

“In saying that it does give us a benchmark of where we are at currently, because I think we are better than we played. I think the second half showed what Australia’s potential is.

“I think from a spectacle point of view, the World Cup wanted a pure Test match and I think tonight they got that benchmark Test match that they should expect of Wheelchair and we are not going to back down.

“England have always been strong … but we are trying to bring a different breed of football into our game, and you saw that tonight. They might call it bullying, but that’s okay. We just call it high intensity and we just try to play a different game.”

Wheelaroos captain Brad Grove said the game in Australia was evolving.

“In the past we’ve been a developing country but now we have got the size to come out and be a bit more aggressive,” Grove said.

“This time around we’ve got that solid strength to push through and it showed tonight. I’m impressed with how the boys went. It’s a spectator sport we just need more eyes on it.”

Clark said he hoped people had been watching in Australia as the players want to inspire more people to take up the sport, which caters for disabled and able bodies people.

“What we are trying to do, from an Australian point of view, is to actually expose the sport to Australia and say 'look, this is a wheelchair related sport'," he said.

"I think that if anyone over in Australia was watching that we hope that there are people who are wheelchair bound and able bodied who will go 'hey, I want to play this'. We are looking to bring this into mainstream."