England Wheelchair have opened their Rugby League World Cup journey in emphatic style with a huge 98-18 victory over Wales.
The squad came out firing as Nathan Collins opened the scoring after just one minute of play, quickly followed up by teammate Rob Hawkins.
The team continued to rack up a colossal score leading into the second half despite efforts from their opponents.
Wales fought hard, crossing twice in the first half before Sid Ramsey added a second in the latter stages, all three converted by Matthew Turner.
But the English side were a force to be reckoned with, never letting up and coming out storming again after the break to add another 52 points to their tally.
It was smooth sailing for the team until the 67th minute when teammate Mason Billington had to undergo a HIA after a collision whilst he scored England’s 14th try.
After another massive performance, Hawkins finished on 11 tries to earn himself the Player of the Match medal, with Collins just behind him having scored four tries and nine goals.
“Those tries wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t have the boys around me,” said Hawkins.
“That’s the best part of our team actually. There is so much love for each other that we’d do anything for each other like backing each other 100 per cent on the field,” the reigning Wheels of Steel winner added.
England Wheelchair will now face Ireland in the second round of the group stage on Tuesday as they hunt for their next win in their World Cup journey (3 November, KO 7:30am GMT).
