The Sportsman is delighted to announce that we’ll stream live and exclusive international rugby league Test match action in June, when Wales’ women take on their England counterparts in Gwent.
The friendly international will be a repeat of the clash at Warrington’s Halliwell Jones Stadium in June 2021, when England came out on top with a 60-0 win in what was the Dragons’ first-ever full international.
Now, having come agonisingly close to a first victory in their subsequent 26-24 defeat to Ireland in October, Wales will host Craig Richards’s side at Cross Keys Rugby Club on June 12 with revenge on their minds.
Cross Keys is no stranger to women’s international sport, as five Wales rugby union matches, including four from the Six Nations, were staged at Pandy Park between 2011 and 2014, with current Wales rugby league international Rafiuke Taylor coming on as substitute for Wales there against USA in the last of those games.
For England this will act as a key warm-up fixture ahead of this autumn’s Rugby League World Cup, with the likes of Amy Hardcastle, Jodie Cunningham and Tara-Jane Stanley looking to get vital match preparation in before reconvening to take on Brazil in their opening Group A fixture against Brazil at Emerald Headingley on November 1.
After their first ever encounter with the Brazilians they will also face Canada for the first time at the DW Stadium in Wigan on November 5, before ending their group campaign back at Headingley four days later when they take on the Papua New Guinea they split a two-game Test series with back in 2019.
The 2017 World Cup semi-finalists will be wary of taking on a galvanised Wales side, for whom captain Ffion Lewis scored a second-half hat-trick against Ireland.
The match, which kicks off at 1pm BST on Sunday, June 12, will be shown live on both The Sportsman and The Sportsman Rugby League on YouTube.
