Wales Beat The Reggae Warriors 22-16 On Test Return In Lextan Gnoll, In Neath
By Mercy Kosgei
Jamaica’s Reggae Warriors suffered a narrow 22-16 defeat to Wales in a rain-drenched international rugby league. They , especially after losing early in the period. Man of the match Gil Dudson scored the third of Wales five tries. He completed a win with Matty Fozard.
Ben-Jones Bishop and Alex Young had led Jamaica 10-0 but Wales came from behind to clinch the victory. This was their first Test Match in 2 years. Rhys Williams who is the record-cap holder struck on half-time. Huw Worthington and Max Clarke went over in the second half.
Bailey Antrobus suffered an injury which put him in doubt of participating in next week’s World cup qualifiers in France.
Alongside Antrobus, Wales got worried at the start conceding inside 5 minutes.
The Reggae Warriors could not hold off a determined Welsh side that rallied in the second half to secure a victory in front of 1300 fans.
Jamaica’s Jones Bishop slipped through to earn them a tackle to score the opener. Doubling the lead, Kieran Rush’s kick eluded Mike Butt and young pounce for the second try.
Huddersfield Rush was among Jamaica’s debutant, nudged Jamaica ahead with a penalty late in the first half before Wales struck back. Among the 8 Jamaica’s debutant was Sydney Roosters Wing Young who is England’s Dom Youngs brother. The defeat marks another step in Jamaica’s journey to establish themselves on the international rugby league stage.
Wales test match served as a warm-up before they face Serbia next week in Carcassonne in the Semi-finals of the Rugby League World cup 2026 European qualifiers.
In a post-match interview, Wales coach John Kear said,” We couldn’t have played any worse in the first half but we looked after the ball better in the second half and kept things simple because you just couldn’t play pretty football in those conditions. We gave six debuts, got the lads together for some time and won in front of a good crowd so it’s a goodnight for us.”
