England Wheelchair begin their 2026 Rugby League World Cup campaign against Wales on Friday as Tom Coyd’s side aim to retain the title they won on home soil in 2022 (30 October, KO 4:30am GMT).
The team will play all their group-stage fixtures at the WIN Entertainment Centre in Wollongong with viewers able to watch live with a Premier Sports subscription.
England return to Australia having secured the Wheelchair Ashes series with two strong performances last autumn.
In the second test, England overturned a 30-18 half-time deficit against the Wheelaroos to claim a narrow victory, with Joe Coyd crossing for the match-winning try just two minutes from time.
Reflecting on their return to Australia, Tom Coyd said: “We had the benefit of doing the Wheelchair Ashes in Australia last year as a bit of a dry run for this, that was part of the point of doing it.
“And we were really rigid and prescriptive with people's travel routines last year and it just didn't work for some of the guys.
“Coaching Wheelchair Rugby League, you learn to individualise your coaching more and more because the guys need that because they have different needs.
“So this time round, we've given them advice, but we've let them kind of do with it as they will.
“Some of the guys have just slept the whole time, some of them have tried to stay awake and sleep a bit later on, but everyone's feeling pretty good, so I think we've done all right.”
England Wheelchair’s opener falls on the same day as the England Men’s and Women’s teams’ final group-stage fixtures, with both teams needing to win to keep their World Cup hopes alive.
“We're proud of the way that they're [England Men and Women] representing the country and they've led off brilliantly,” added Coyd.
“We're hoping to follow up on Friday playing in the same place, more or less the same time on the 30th of October.”
England Wheelchair RLWC fixtures
Friday 30 October
England v Wales – KO 4:30am
Tuesday 3 November
England v USA – KO 7:30am
Friday 6 November
England v Ireland – KO 6am
