Sixteen and ready: Wales hand McCabe a World Cup debut against the champions

Wales have thrown youth straight into the deepest end of wheelchair rugby league. Head coach Alan Caron has named 16-year-old Fionn McCabe in his squad for Wales' opening match of the 2026 Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup against world champions England, at the WIN Entertainment Centre in Wollongong, Australia, on Friday.

This is rugby league in wheelchairs — not rugby union, and not the Paralympic sport of wheelchair rugby. It is a fast, tag-based version of the game, and Wales are about to test themselves against the best team on the planet.

The match kicks off at 3.30pm local time in Wollongong, which is 4.30am Welsh time. England arrive as world champions, having won the title on home soil in 2022, and they have already shown they can win in Australia, securing the Wheelchair Ashes series there last autumn. Wales, though, are not going to Wollongong simply to make up the numbers. Caron has picked a side that mixes teenage fearlessness with some of the most experienced wheelchair internationals Wales have ever produced.

A debut 12 days after turning 16

McCabe, of North Wales Crusaders, celebrated his 16th birthday on 18 October, less than a fortnight before Wales begin their World Cup campaign. If he takes to the court against England, he will become Wales Wheelchair's third-youngest debutant of all time.

That is not a token selection. McCabe was the top try scorer for Crusaders this season as they won silver in the RFL Wheelchair Championship, losing in the final, and Caron has made clear the youngsters in this squad have earned their places on quality, not just promise. He is one of two players in line for a first Wales cap in the opener, alongside York RLFC's John Berriman.

For a 16-year-old, the occasion could hardly be bigger: a World Cup, against England, in front of a Wollongong crowd and a television audience back home.

Experience around the youngsters

Caron has surrounded his debutants with players who know exactly what a World Cup demands. Captain Jodie Boyd-Ward, of Leeds Rhinos, leads Wales out, and she is set to make her 48th international appearance against England. She has represented Wales on 18 occasions, alongside seven appearances for Ireland and 22 for England.

Former skipper Mark Williams brings 42 Wales caps, the most Wales caps of anyone in the matchday squad, while vice-captain Stuart Williams has 36. Andrew Higgins, named among the reserves, has 37 Wales caps of his own.

The rest of the matchday eight shows the same blend. Sid Ramsey, of Sheffield Eagles, has two Wales caps, Jonathan Gill, of North Wales Crusaders, has one, and Matthew Turner, of Wigan Warriors and North Wales Crusaders, has two. Under tournament rules, a ten-player squad must be named, with eight playing on the day. One of the two reserves will be named as ninth player, and they can come into the action if there are head injuries.

Caron said he was confident in the side his coaching team had selected, and he framed the England game as the start of a longer campaign rather than a one-off occasion.

"I'm confident that my assistant coaches and I are happy with the side we've selected," Caron said.

"England are world champions, so we know they'll be tough, but we have five games and three weeks, and we know that we're trying to plan not just for this game, but the second, third, fourth and fifth," he added.

"The England team has changed since the last World Cup, as has ours. But the youngsters that are coming through have been selected because they've got really good qualities, not just for now, but for the future of the game in Wales."

The champions in the way

England's head coach Tom Coyd has already spoken about the value of last year's trip to Australia, when England won the Wheelchair Ashes, as a dry run for this World Cup.

Wales do not need to win this game to keep their tournament alive. All eight participating nations are guaranteed five matches, with the remaining fixtures determined by the semi-final and ranking-match format, and the whole wheelchair tournament is staged at the WIN Entertainment Centre, with the final on Friday 13 November.

What comes next for Wales

After England, Wales face Ireland on Tuesday 3 November and the USA on Friday 6 November, both also at the WIN Entertainment Centre. Those are the other teams in Group A, alongside England and Wales, while Australia, France, New Zealand and Scotland make up Group B.

Wales supporters back home can watch the campaign live on Premier Sports, which holds the broadcast rights for Wales' World Cup matches in the UK and Ireland.

For McCabe, though, the alarm clock is the least of it. Twelve days after turning 16, he could wheel out against the world champions at a World Cup.

Wales squad to face England

Sid Ramsey (Sheffield Eagles), Fionn McCabe (North Wales Crusaders), Jodie Boyd-Ward (captain, Leeds Rhinos), Jonathan Gill (North Wales Crusaders), Stuart Williams (vice-captain, Edinburgh Giants / North Wales Crusaders), Matthew Turner (Wigan Warriors / North Wales Crusaders), Mark Williams (Wigan Warriors / South Wales Jets), John Berriman (York RLFC). Reserves: Lee Sargent (Birmingham Hurricanes / Cardiff Blue Dragons), Andrew Higgins (Birmingham Hurricanes).