Wales

Team information
Nickname	The Dragons
Governing body	Wales Rugby League
Region	Europe
Head coach	Paul Berry
Captain	Matty Fozard[1]
Mostcaps	Rhys Williams (33)[2]
Top try-scorer	Rhys Williams (22)[2]
Top point-scorer	Iestyn Harris (165)[2]
IRL ranking	13th
Uniforms
First colours
Team results
First international
Wales 9–8New Zealand  (Aberdare,Wales; 1 January 1908)
Biggest win
United States 4–92Wales  (Philadelphia,United States; 11 June 1995)
Biggest defeat
England 74–0Wales  (Doncaster,England; 10 October 2008)
World Cup
Appearances	5 (first time in1975)
Best result	Semi-finals (1995,2000)

TheWales national rugby league team representsWales in representativerugby league football matches. Currently the team is ranked 12th in theIRL World Rankings. The team was run under the auspices of theRugby Football League, but an independent body,Wales Rugby League, now runs the team fromCardiff. Six Welsh players have been entered into theRugby Football League Hall of Fame.

As with other Welsh national sporting teams, Wales' strip has been primarily red. However, in the World Cup campaign in 2000 they wore a shirt featuring the Welsh flag, adding a touch of green and white. The team is known as "The Dragons" and so the team's logo on the shirt is a red dragon.

The team date back to 1907, making them the third oldest national side afterEngland andNew Zealand, and it was a touring New Zealand side that Wales first played against in 1908, winning 9–8 atAberdare. Since then, Wales have regularly played England, since 1935France, as well as welcomed the touringAustralia and New Zealand teams, although they rarely toured themselves, not playing a match in theSouthern Hemisphere until 1975. For 26 years Wales competed against their two biggest rivals, England and France, in theEuropean Nations Cup, winning the trophy four times.

Wales has also competed in theWorld Cup on five occasions, the first time being in1975. In1995 and2000 they had their most successful tournaments to date, making the Semi-Finals on both occasions before being beaten by England and Australia respectively. Wales failed to qualify for the2008 World Cup, being the second highest ranked side not to do so, having lost toScotland on points difference over two matches. They then qualified for the2013 World Cup but failed to win a game, including losing 32–16 to low rankedItaly in their opening game at theMillennium Stadium in Cardiff.

In recent seasons, Wales has taken massive strides under former playerIestyn Harris who had coached Wales to back to back European Cup successes, which culminated in aFour Nations appearance in 2011. In 2014 former England and France coachJohn Kear became the new head coach after Iestyn Harris left the post to concentrate on his new job as head coach atSalford Red Devils.

For most of its history, Wales has been represented by theGreat Britain national rugby league team intours andworld cups. The only competitive exception to this was theEuropean Championship. Wales, in its early years, would also play regular friendlies againstEngland to ensure the strength of the Great Britain side. Wales, unlike England, would more often play separate test matches against the Australia or New Zealand tour opponents ahead of the Great Britain games.

On 5 April 1904,England played an international match against the "Other Nationalities", a team of Welshmen and Scotsmen, inWigan. Of the twelve players who played for the Other Nationalities team, as it was a 12-a-side game, ten of them were Welshmen coming from Northern English clubs. At the turn of the century many Welshmen made the switch fromrugby union, wanting to be paid for playing, and although the numbers switching were constantly increasing, theNorthern Union did not think that a Welsh side would be strong enough for England. After 80 minutes however, the Other Nationalities had beaten England 9–3. Nevertheless, this team carried on for another two years, playing England annually in 1905 and 1906, losing 26–11 and drawing 3–3 respectively.

From 1905 to 1910 Rugby League as a sport enjoyed growth, not just in Wales and England, but also on the east coast of Australia and in northern New Zealand. WhenAlbert Henry Baskerville'sNZ All Golds with their guest Australian starDally Messenger arrived in Britain for the inaugural tour by a southern hemisphere side, the first full international was against Wales on New Year's Day 1908. The Welsh rugby league team were contesting their first national fixture, and managed to beat the touring Kiwis 9–8 inAberdare in front of 20,000 spectators. This was the first international match played under new "Northern Union" rules, which would later be rapidly changed again, but these rules were a small departure from traditional rugby union rules which had been used in previous international matches (minus the number of players, who were experimentally changed by the NU several times). The New Zealand team, or the "All Golds" as they were being called by the New Zealand newspapers, had never played rugby by these rules before but did have a week of preparation and training sessions leading up to the match. With this Welsh victory and large crowd, Wales played their second fixture at theMid Rhondda Athletic Ground inTonypandy, and managed to win that match too recording a 35–18 win against what would soon become their main rival, the England Lions.^[3] At the end of 1908 Wales played their third and final fixture of the decade, playing England again, but this time inBroughton,Lancashire. This time they lost 31–7. However, in 1909 another victory was to occur for Welsh Rugby League, with a Welsh League XIII made up of players still playing in Wales beating a touring Australian side 14–13 in Merthyr.

In the years before the outbreak of the war, Wales regularly played England. The two national teams played each other every year, including 1914. Due to Rugby League only extensively being played in the two countries in the whole of theNorthern Hemisphere, touring Australia and New Zealand teams were the only chances to play someone different. Although the two matches against the English played in Wales were played inEbbw Vale inMonmouthshire, the Welsh travelled around England for away matches, playing inCoventry,Oldham,Plymouth andSt. Helens. Collectively those seven matches in Wales and England produced six defeats for the Welsh team, although there were signs of improvement, in the last match in St Helens the Dragons narrowly lost by just four points, the match ending 16–12. On the 7 October 1911 Wales played Australia for the first time. The match, held at Ebbw Vale again, drew 7,000 people to watch Wales go down 20–28. The match was significant though because throughout the next few decades Australia would play the Dragons in Wales whenever they touredGreat Britain. During and after theFirst World War many sports suffered, and rugby league in Wales was no exception, the team didn't play a match again until 1921.

After a seven-year hiatus Wales once again played England and continued to do so annually throughout the 1920s, apart from in 1924. Because of the long hiatus a large proportion of players competing in the 1921 match were earning their first cap for the team. The first game at Leeds saw Wales lose 35–9 in front of 13,000. A further 13,000 saw the1921–22 Kangaroo touring side play Wales in December 1921, this time inPontypridd. Like the first time these nations played each other, Australia narrowly defeated the Welsh, the final score being 16–21. In 1922 Wales took part in the first international rugby league match to be played inLondon. England beat Wales 12–7 inHerne Hill but just 3,000 people turned up to watch, one of the lowest attendances to ever watch a Wales match. After four more matches against England in various Rugby League strongholds in Northern England, the Dragons once again played in Wales. Two matches were played in 1926 in Pontypridd, the same year that a Pontypridd domestic side joined the English leagues, although they disbanded a year later. The first match saw finished Wales 22–30 England with a record 23,000 in attendance. The second match saw Wales comfortably beat the touring New Zealand 34–8. Three more matches against England were played including one in November 1928 played inCardiff. It was in the 1920s thatJim Sullivan, one of three Welsh players to be enrolled into the Rugby League Hall Of Fame, started rising through the ranks at Wigan. A career spanning 25 years saw him play many times for Wales picking up 26 caps, a record that was only beaten in 2010 byIan Watson. He also representedGreat Britain 25 times andGlamorgan and Monmouthshire 12 times.

The 1930s were to herald a new era for the team as it emerged at times as one of the dominant sides in world rugby league. In 1930 and 1933 Wales played Australia atWembley Stadium inLondon. On both occasions they failed to win, losing 26–10 and being thrashed 51–19. However at the time Australia were arguably considered the world's second best nation (behind England) and so particularly in the first game, Wales had done very well against the touring Kangaroos. Wales luck against England did not change either suffering three losses to the Lions in three games, in Huddersfield, Salford and Leeds. They were very unlucky in the latter however, with England winning 14 points to 13. Exactly 27 years after Wales played their first match, they played France for the first time in a new competition called the European Nations Cup, in which Wales, France and England would play two matches each. Wales and France kicked off the tournament on New Year's Day in front of 15,000 in Bordeaux. But the Dragons lost 18–11, and their match against England was just as bad losing 24–11 in Liverpool. The France versus England match finished a 15–15 draw so England won the inaugural competition on points difference. Wales finished bottom. The next European Nations Cup brought better fortunes to the Welsh and they kicked off the competition, which was staged across Winter 1935 and 1936, with a 41–7 thrashing against France. The team were cheered on by 25,000 people at Llanelli and three months later Wales did the unexpected and squeezed past England, winning 14–17 away at Hull. This was a huge result for Wales, having not beaten England since 1923, and they had won the cup for the first time. For the next two competitions Wales successfully defended the cup. A 3–2 win against the English in Pontypridd, coupled with a 9–3 victory in Paris saw Wales clinch the cup for the second time, and then in 1938 the Dragons beat England again by one point in Bradford before beating the French 18–2. This represents perhaps the highest point in Welsh rugby league history with great players such as Jim Sullivan, Gus Risman, Alan Edwards and Alec Givvons featuring. In 1935 Welsh rugby league would produce its first black international inGeorge Bennett (some 48 years before Welsh rugby union would do so). In the 1938/1939 tournament, the last to be held for six years because of theSecond World War, Wales beat their main rivals England before dramatically losing 16–10 in Bordeaux against Les Tricolores. Because of the French's victory against England, Wales finished second and the cup was taken across the channel.

During the1978 Kangaroo tour Wales playedAustralia atSt Helen's ground in Swansea, losing 8–3.

• 1 January 1908 – Wales play their first international match againstNew Zealand played at theAthletic Ground inAberdare in front of 15,000 fans. Wales won 9–8.^[4]
• 19 January 1909 – The Welsh League XIII defeat thetouringAustralians 14–13 atPenydarren Park inMerthyr Tydfil.
• 1926 – Wales defeat thetouring New Zealand 34–8 atPontypridd. The Kiwis were awarded full caps for the match.
• 18 January 1930 – Australia defeat Wales 26–10 in the first ever rugby league international played atLondon'sWembley Stadium. The non-test international attracted 20,000 fans.
• 1936 – Wales win the1935–36 European Rugby League Championship with a 17–14 win overEngland atCraven Park inHull.
• 1937 – Wales win theirsecond consecutive European Championship.
• 1938 – Wales win the European championship for thethird consecutive season.
• 24 November 1945 – 30,000 people attend a match against England at theSt. Helen's Rugby Ground inSwansea. As of 2017 this remains the largest stand alone attendance for an international match in Wales.
• 1947 Wales defeat England 10–8 atCentral Park inWigan.
• 10 June 1975 – Clive Sullivan's try effectively won theWorld title for Australia, as Wales beat England 12–7 atLang Park inBrisbane, thanks to Sullivan's match-clinching try after chasing a ball over the English line. The final three games in the tournament, however, all ended in losses and Wales finish third. 1975 was the first time Wales appeared at theRugby League World Cup, all previous cups had seen the British isles represented by Great Britain.
• 27 October 1991 –Papua New Guinea met Wales atVetch Field, Swansea. Roared on by a fervent crowd of 11,422; Wales won by a record 68–0 margin, scoring thirteen tries. In that match dual-rugby internationalJonathan Davies scored 24 points from two tries and 8 goals.

• December 1992 – Wales defeatFrance inPerpignan, their first win on French soil for 30 years.
• 1995 – Wales win theEuropean Championship, with a win over England (the first since 1968 and the biggest on Welsh soil).Mike Gregory is head coach for the1995 World Cup. Wales make thesemi-finals of the World Cup, only to lose to England 25–10 atOld Trafford inManchester. The 1995 World Cup between Wales and Western Samoa in front of a capacity crowd of over 15,000 at Swansea was a pinnacle for Welsh Rugby League in the modern era. Following rugby union's decision to go professional, the flow of talent going north from the valleys dried up and Jonathan Davies returned to rugby union.
• 5 June 1996 – Wales beat France inCarcassonne to bring home the European Championship for the first time in 57 years.
• 1997 – Anger as theRugby Football League announce that at the proposed 1998 World Cup (never played), Wales would not be included to allow the appearance of theNew Zealand Māoris. Wales were once again to form part of Great Britain.
• 19 June 1998 –Emerging England defeat a full Welsh side inWidnes.
• 2000 – Wales again made theWorld Cup semi finals, losing to Australia 46–22 in a hard-fought battle atHuddersfield.
• November 2005 – Wales took second in the European Nations Cup, losing to France in the final at Carcassonne.
• 9 November 2007 – Wales loses 50–26 toLebanon, having led 16–10 at half-time, ending their chances to qualify for the2008 Rugby League World Cup
• 2009 – Wales win theEuropean cup; defeatingScotland 28–16 in the final at theBrewery Field inBridgend. Only 1,608 spectators turn up for the game.
• 2010 – Wales win theEuropean cup to qualify for the2011 Four Nations against Australia, England and New Zealand.
• 27 October 2012 – Wales are thrashed 80–12 by England at theRacecourse Ground,Wrexham as part of the Autumn Internationals series.
• 2013 – Wales failed to win a game at the2013 Rugby League World Cup held in England and Wales.
• October and November 2014 – Wales were beaten in all three games in the2014 European Cup.
• 16 October 2015 – Wales ended their spree of 12 consecutive defeats with an 18–12 victory against Scotland in the opening game of the2015 European Cup. Their last victory before this result occurred on 22 October 2011 with a 30–6 win overIreland. Wales would go on to win their remaining two matches of the campaign, becoming the only unbeaten team in the competition, and therefore become the champions of the 2015 European Cup competition, their 7th European Championship win in 32 championships held since 1935.
• 4 April 2017 – The team received funding fromSport Wales for the first time, in preparation for the2017 Rugby League World Cup.^[5]

Primary

1978–1985

1994–1999

2000–2004

2017 World Cup

In July 2024,The Gnoll inNeath became the home stadium of the team as well as all other Welsh national rugby league teams.^[6]

Name	Years	G	W	D	L	%	Honours
Les Pearce	1975	9	3	0	6	033.33	1975 Rugby League World Cup –Group stage
David Watkins	1977	2	1	0	1	050.00
John Mantle Bill Francis	1978	1	0	0	1	000.00
Kel Coslett	1978–1981	5	0	0	5	000.00
David Watkins	1982–1984	2	0	0	2	000.00
Clive Griffiths	1991–2000	25	15	0	10	060.00	1995 European Rugby League Championship 1995 Rugby League World Cup –Third place 2000 Rugby League World Cup –Third place
Neil Kelly	2001–2003	5	1	0	4	020.00
Stuart Wilkinson	2004	2	0	0	2	000.00
Martin Hall	2005–2007	7	4	0	3	057.14
John Dixon	2008	1	0	0	1	000.00
Iestyn Harris	2009–2013	18	7	0	11	038.89	2009 European Cup 2010 European Cup 2013 Rugby League World Cup –Group stage
John Kear	2014–2025	10	4	0	6	040.00	2015 European Cup 2017 Rugby League World Cup –Group stage
Paul Berry	2025–

Source:^[7]

Squad selected for the October/November 2025 friendlies against Ireland:^[8]

Player	Club
Denive Barmforth	Hull FC
Sam Bowring	Midlands Hurricanes
Mike Butt	Widnes Vikings
Max Clarke	Workington Town
Connor Davies	Halifax Panthers
Curtis Davies	London Broncos
Sam Dickenson	Wigan Warriors
Matty Fozard	Widnes Vikings
Charlie Glover	Salford Red Devils
Sam Grice	Caslteford Tigers
Rhodri Lloyd	Widnes Vikings
Lloyd McEwan-Peters	Hunslet
Owen Restall	Halifax Panthers
Ashton Robinson	Milton-Ulladulla Bulldogs
Matt Ross	London Broncos
Luke Thomas	Warrington Wovles
Billy Walkley	Sheffield Eagles
Huw Worthington	London Broncos
Fin Yates	Salford Red Devils

The following Welsh players have been inducted into the BritishRugby Football League Hall of Fame (instituted 1988):

• Billy Boston (1988)
• Gus Risman (1988)
• Jim Sullivan (1988)
• Lewis Jones (2013)
• Clive Sullivan (2022)
• David Watkins (2022)

The following Welsh players have been inducted into theWelsh Sports Hall of Fame:

• 1990Billy Boston
• 1992Jim Sullivan
• 1998Lewis Jones
• 2000Gus Risman,David Watkins
• 2003Jonathan Davies,Willie Davies
• 2004Trevor Foster
• 2009Clive Sullivan

• As of 17 February 2020
• Bold- denotes player still active at club level

Below is table of the representative rugby matches played by the Wales national XIII at test level up until 22 October 2024.^[9]

Opponent	Matches	Won	Drawn	Lost	Win %	For	Aga	Diff
Australia	13	0	0	13	0%	143	455	–312
Cook Islands	3	1	0	2	33.33%	74	52	+22
England	68	16	2	50	23.53%	801	1,510	–709
England Knights	2	1	0	1	50%	19	34	–15
Fiji	1	0	0	1	0%	6	72	–66
France	44	18	0	26	40.91%	653	747	–94
Ireland	10	6	0	4	60%	253	199	+54
Italy	3	1	0	2	33.33%	42	59	–17
Jamaica	2	1	1	0	50%	38	32	+6
Lebanon	3	1	0	2	33.33%	72	110	–38
New Zealand	10	3	0	7	30%	158	264	–106
New Zealand Maori	1	1	0	0	100%	18	12	+6
Other Nationalities	5	1	0	4	20%	60	101	–41
Papua New Guinea	5	3	0	2	60%	146	104	+42
Russia	1	1	0	0	100%	74	4	+70
Samoa	1	1	0	0	100%	22	10	+12
Scotland	10	6	0	4	60%	266	221	+45
Serbia	3	3	0	0	100%	176	8	+168
South Africa	1	1	0	0	100%	40	12	+28
Tonga	1	0	0	1	0%	6	32	-26
United States	3	2	0	1	66.67%	174	38	+136
Total	190	67	3	120	35.26%	3,241	4,076	–835

World Cup Record
Year	Round	Position	P	W	D	L	F	A	PD
1954	Competed asGreat Britain
1957
1960
1968
1970
1972
1975	Group stage	3rd of 5	8	3	0	5	110	130	-20
1977	Competed asGreat Britain
1985–88
1989–92
1995	Semi-finals	3rd of 10	3	2	0	1	60	41	+19
2000	Semi-finals	3rd of 16	5	3	0	1	124	140	-16
2008	did not qualify
2013	Group stage	12th of 14	3	0	0	3	56	84	-28
2017	Group stage	13th of 14	3	0	0	3	18	156	-138
2021	Group stage	13th of 16	3	0	0	3	18	86	-68
2026	did not qualify
Total		6/17[a]	25	8	0	16	386	637	-251

Four Nations Record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	PD
2009	did not enter
2010
2011	Group stage	4th of 4th	3	0	0	3	18	134	–116
2014	did not enter
2016

Attendance	Opposing team	Venue	Tournament
45,052	Italy	Millennium Stadium,Cardiff	2013Rugby League World Cup
42,344	New Zealand	Wembley Stadium,London	2011Rugby League Four Nations
30,042	England	Old Trafford,Manchester	1995Rugby League World Cup Semi-final
30,000	England	St Helens Rugby Ground,Swansea	1945–46European Rugby League Championship
30,000	France	Stade Vélodrome,Marseille	1948–49European Rugby League Championship

Attendance	Opposing team	Venue	Tournament
45,052	Italy	Millennium Stadium,Cardiff	2013Rugby League World Cup
42,344	New Zealand	Wembley Stadium,London	2011Rugby League Four Nations
30,042	England	Old Trafford,Manchester	1995Rugby League World Cup Semi-final
30,000	France	Stade Vélodrome,Marseille	1948–49European Rugby League Championship
25,386	Australia	Sydney Cricket Ground,Sydney	1975Rugby League World Cup
15,385	Samoa	Vetch Field,Swansea	1995Rugby League World Cup
14,800	Papua New Guinea	PNG Football Stadium,Port Moresby	2017Rugby League World Cup
14,744	Ireland	Perth Rectangular Stadium,Perth	2017Rugby League World Cup
8,019	United States	Racecourse Ground,Wrexham	2013Rugby League World Cup
7,752	Tonga	Langtree Park,St Helens	2021Rugby League World Cup
7,732	Fiji	Willows Sports Complex,Townsville	2017Rugby League World Cup
6,188	Cook Islands	Leigh Sports Village,Leigh	2021Rugby League World Cup
2,378	Scotland	Brewery Field,Bridgend	2008Rugby League World CupQualifying
1,497	Lebanon	Stradey Park,Llanelli	2000Rugby League World Cup
1,378	Jamaica	Belle Vue,Wakefield	2017 Wales vs Jamaica
1,082	Russia	Talbot Athletic Ground,Port Talbot	2003European Nations Cup

Attendance	Opposing team	Venue	Tournament
45,052	Italy	Millennium Stadium,Cardiff	2013Rugby League World Cup
30,000	England	St Helens Rugby Ground,Swansea	1945–46European Rugby League Championship
23,000	France	St Helens Rugby Ground,Swansea	1975European Rugby League Championship
18,283	New Zealand	St Helens Rugby Ground,Swansea	1947–48 New Zealand Kiwis tour
15,385	Samoa	Vetch Field,Swansea	1995Rugby League World Cup
13,000	Australia	Taff Vale Park,Pontypridd	1921–22 Kangaroo tour
11,422	Papua New Guinea	Vetch Field,Swansea	1991 Papua New Guinea Kumuls tour
8,019	United States	Racecourse Ground,Wrexham	2013Rugby League World Cup
5,016	Cook Islands	Racecourse Ground,Wrexham	2000Rugby League World Cup
2,378	Scotland	Brewery Field,Bridgend	2008Rugby League World CupQualifying
2,265	Ireland	The Gnoll,Neath	2011 Wales vs Ireland
1,299	Jamaica	The Gnoll,Neath	2024 Wales vs Jamaica
1,082	Russia	Talbot Athletic Ground,Port Talbot	2003European Nations Cup

Major:
World Cup:
Semi-finalists (2): 1995, 2000

Regional:
European Championship:
Winners (7):1936, 1937, 1938, 1995, 2009, 2010, 2015
Runners-up (9): 1938–39, 1946–47, 1952–53, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1996, 2005, 2018

IRL Men's World Rankings v t e
Official rankings as of December 2025
Rank	Change	Team	Pts %
1		Australia	100
2		New Zealand	82
3		England	74
4		Samoa	56
5		Tonga	54
6		Papua New Guinea	47
7		Fiji	34
8		France	24
9		Cook Islands	24
10		Serbia	23
11		Netherlands	22
12		Ukraine	21
13		Wales	18
14		Ireland	17
15		Greece	15
16		Malta	15
17		Italy	11
18		Jamaica	9
19	1	Poland	7
20	1	Lebanon	7
21	1	Norway	7
22	3	United States	7
23		Germany	7
24		Czech Republic	6
25		Chile	6
26	1	Philippines	5
27	1	Scotland	5
28	2	South Africa	5
29	1	Canada	5
30	1	Brazil	3
31	1	Morocco	3
32	1	North Macedonia	3
33	1	Argentina	3
34	1	Montenegro	3
35	4	Ghana	2
36	5	Kenya	2
37	3	Nigeria	2
38	2	Albania	1
39	2	Turkey	1
40	2	Bulgaria	1
41	1	Cameroon	0
42	1	Japan	0
43	1	Spain	0
44	3	Colombia	0
45		Russia	0
46		El Salvador	0
47		Bosnia and Herzegovina	0
48		Hong Kong	0
49		Solomon Islands	0
50		Vanuatu	0
51		Hungary	0
52		Latvia	0
53		Denmark	0
54		Belgium	0
55		Estonia	0
56		Sweden	0
57		Niue	0
Complete rankings at www.internationalrugbyleague.com

• List of Wales national rugby league team players
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