Papua New Guinea triumphs over Australia 22-8 in the final of the Rugby League Commonwealth Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.

Papua New Guinea has defeated Australia 22-8 in the final of the Rugby League Commonwealth Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.

The two-day event, an under 19s Nines tournament, is officially endorsed by the Commonwealth Games Federation.

PNG’s Stanton Albert was named Player of the Tournament.

Eight nations took part in the matches at the Broadwood Stadium, North Lanarkshire, with Wales finishing third after defeating Canada 20-8.

South Africa (Finishing Last with no wins) , Jamaica, England and Scotland also competed.

Rugby is an official exhibition sport in the lead-up to the Commonwealth Games, which begin in Glasgow on 23 July.

Organisers of the 2018 Commonwealth Games on Australia’s Gold Coast also plan to include the sport as an exhibition.

South Africa have selected eight players from national champions TUKS Rugby League Club in Guateng for the inaugural Rugby League Commonwealth Championship at the end of this month in Scotland. TUKS are based at the University of Pretoria and field two sides – the first team Reds in the Rhino Cup and second team Blues in the Protea Cup. They have won the Rhino Cup twice in a row.
There are players from four other clubs in their 13-man squad for  the Under-19 Nines tournament, with players originating from afar afield as Mpumalanga, Western Cape, Limpopo and KwaZulu Natal. TUKS second rower Dwayne Botma may become the first Paraguayan-born rugby league player to appear at a major international tournament.
South Africa are relatively inexperienced and young compared to some squads but make up for that in size. TUKS prop Christo Lategan, aged 18, weighs in at 116kg while his club and Rhinos team-mate 6ft 3in forward Glen Rademan, aged 19, is over 100kg.
The South African squad is hard at work getting ready for the Commonwealth Championships. They has been facing several challenges, with the biggest the constant refusal for the South African Sport Commonwealth and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) to even recognize rugby league as a sport. 

“This has serious implication, the toughest that we don’t qualify for funding from the government,” explained liaison officer Chris Botes. “The funding for the tour has to come from the players themselves, SARL and other private sponsors. To add to the challenges, several of the players are from previously disadvantaged areas, and to even get to practice is sometimes not possible due to lack of funding, transport and also basic support systems. In spite of the challenges, the management team was able to hold trials in three different regions - Mpumalanga, Gauteng and Western Cape.”
An initial training group of 40 players has been whittled down to a squad of thirteen players. While South Africa can take 15 players, the funding required is not available. The Rhinos XIII are training together in regional training groups on a weekly basis. 

“It’s important to realize that South Africa is five times bigger than the UK and some of the players are 2000km away from the training camps,” says Botes. “Once a month they get together at a national training camp and train together as a squad. Some players drive up to 400 miles return just to make practice. Since quite a few are still in school, or first year students, many a weekend had to be sacrificed. It’s a challenge juggling studies, exams and training schedules. Each and every player must be applauded for his commitment to the game.”

SARL has finalised the 0/19 Rhino Squad that will compete in this years Glasgow Commonwealth Championship.

The Team Are: 

Wales have 11 players in the 2014 Great Britain and Ireland Academic Lions squad, which has been announced following last week’s Student Four Nations.

The week long competition hosted this year at the University of Nottingham culminated on Good Friday with England defeating Wales in a thrilling final.

The Great Britain and Ireland Academic Lions will compete in the RFL Associations cup which runs from May to June where they will compete against the GB Teachers, GB Police and the Armed Forces. They will then tour South Africa in late August / early September.

Wales scored more points than any other side in the Four Nations with 162 in their three games, over a quarter of them coming from Lloyd Thomas who notched 11 tries.

Thomas, the player of the tournament, said on his selection for the squad: “I am overwhelmed with the award that I have received and extremely excited about the opportunity to play for Great Britain. I’m also pleased so many of my Welsh team mates have also been selected”.

Brian Juliff, chairman of Wales Rugby League, said: “I’m delighted that Wales did so well in the tournament, scoring more points than anyone else.

“I’m equally delighted that we have 11 players in the Great Britain and Ireland squad. All of this just shows how hard we are working in Wales to develop young players and bring them through the system. Good luck to them all in their matches this summer.”

Paul Fletcher, Great Britain and Ireland head coach, said: “It’s been a fantastic competition with some excellent talent on display, we have watched the players closely throughout the week in training as well as during the games.

“We have decided on a 27 man train on Squad which will be reduced to 22 players after the Associations Cup for the tour which takes place later this year, I am really excited about the squad we have selected and looking forward to working with the players.”

SQUAD

ANTHONY SQUIRE (Loughborough University / England)

BEN STELMASZEK (Bangor University / Wales)

BILLY GRIFFITHS (University of Huddersfield / England)

BLAKE MAHOVIC (Manchester Metropolitan University / England)

CHRIS ATKIN (Liverpool John Moores University / England)

CHRIS BARRATT (Loughborough University / England)

DAN CAPAROSS-MIDWOOD (Newcastle University / England)

DAN PARKER (Leeds Metropolitan University / Scotland)

GAVIN GRANT (University of Bath / Scotland)

GAZ HYNES (Leeds Metropolitan University / England)

HARRISON ELLIOTT (University South Wales / Wales)

IAIN MURRAY (Northumbria University / England)

JACK HOWDLE (Loughborough University / England)

JOE WALSH (Manchester Metropolitan University / England)

JORDAN SHERIDAN (Cardiff Metropolitan University / Wales)

JOSH DIXON (Leeds Metropolitan University / England)

LEWIS WEAVER (Blackpool and The Fylde College / Wales)

LLOYD THOMAS (Loughborough University / Wales)

MARCUS WEBB (Bridgend College / Wales)

MIKE CONNOR (University of South Wales / Wales)

MORGAN EVANS (University of Bath / Wales)

OSIAN PHILLIPS (University of South Wales / Wales)

RICHARD HUGHES (Liverpool John Moores University / England)

SEAN RICHARDS (Leeds Metropolitan University / England)

TOM HALL (Leeds Metropolitan University / England)

TOM HUGHES (Loughborough University / Wales)

TRISTAN TREHAN (Loughborough University / Wales)