photo by Mark Harris

Wales will face their toughest game against Papua New Guinea yet when the two old foes meet at Celtic Crusaders’ Brewery Field in Bridgend this Sunday in a prestigious rugby league friendly (kick-off 3pm).

The touring side contains a wealth of experience led by Salford City Reds’ John Wilshire along with six players who are with Australian NRL clubs.

The PNG side have prepared well for this tour, having held an Australian Presidents XIII, that was completely filled with NRL regulars and full internationals, to a 24-24 draw last month, while a dramatic trial match was held in the PNG capital of Port Moresby last Saturday with a team of overseas-based players beating a side of local-based players 27-26.

In contrast, this match will be Wales’ first of a 2007 international season that they hope will be only two matches long.

Sunday’s game will not only be a competitive full international in its own right but it will be a warm up game for the Welsh as they prepare to take on Scotland in Glasgow on Sunday 4th November in a World Cup qualifier that can be seen live on Sky Sports.

Wales lost the first leg 21-14 in Bridgend last year so must beat Scotland by eight points to make the finals in Australia in 2008. Should they fail to achieve this, then they will need to beat Lebanon or Ireland then USA or Samoa to qualify for the Finals.

The Kumuls, who qualified automatically for the 2008 World Cup, go on to France to play two more internationals.

Wales and Papua New Guinea have met twice before. First was the historic match in 1991 that relaunched Welsh Rugby League after a seven-year absence and opened PNG’s tour of the UK. The game was played at Swansea’s Vetch Field and over 11,000 fans turned out to see all the top Welsh rugby stars come home. Jonathan Davies led the way for Wales with two tries and eight goals on a bitterly cold night, Phil Ford scored a hat-trick of tries, Anthony Sullivan nabbed a brace while Allan Bateman, Jonathan Griffiths, Kevin Ellis, Rob Ackerman, Dai Bishop and Adrian Hadley all scored one try each as Wales won 68-0.

The sides met again in the 2000 World Cup where Wales knocked PNG out in the quarter-final stage at Widnes, winning 22-8 with Jason Critchley, Lee Briers and Wes Davies scoring tries and Iestyn Harris kicking five goals.

This match is predicted to be closer still despite two of Papua New Guinea’s biggest stars pulling out of the trip through injury. Hull Kingston Rovers’ Stanley Gene has had to have an operation on his knee while his club team-mate Makali Aizu has also had to withdraw.

However the PNG coach, the former Wigan half-back Adrian Lam, says that the squad are in high spirits and that they are looking forward to Sunday.

Lam said: “Everyone is Papua New Guinea has been looking forward to and talking about this tour for a long time. Apart from playing in Australia, this will be our first match overseas since 2000

when we lost to Wales in the World Cup so we’re due an overseas tour.

“It will be a tough game for us as it will be our first match of the tour in cold conditions. When we played our trial match last weekend, the temperature was around 25 degrees so it will take a bit of time for us to adjust. We would like to give everyone we can a good run out on the park as there will be places up for grabs for the test match in France next week.”

Lam will select his squad of 19 from his 23 available players who are all fully fit. The squad had a full day’s workout at the Brewery Field on Wednesday and are also training for half a day in Bridgend on Friday.

While the visitors have had two of their top stars pull out through injury, Wales coach Martin Hall has had some good news, as two of his best players are available for the match.

“Lee Briers was passed fit earlier this week,” Hall said, “And Iestyn Harris will definitely take part in some of the game. We’re naming a squad of 19 and all six substitutes will be able to take part. We don’t get many opportunities to play international matches so we’re all looking forward to facing Papua New Guinea. It will be a tough contest and it will prepare us nicely for the Scotland match.”

There are 11 potential new caps for Wales this Sunday. New Celtic Crusaders signings Aaron Summers, Ian Webster and Luke Dyer are included for the first time as are current Crusaders Phil Cushion, Geraint Davies and Grant Epton. Dave Halley, Matt James and Craig Kopczak join their experienced Bradford Bulls’ team-mate Harris in the squad while Warrington’s Andy Bracek and Halifax’s Sean Penkywicz are the other newcomers.

Wales will select their side on Saturday morning following their final training session at the Brewery Field.

Wales (from): Anthony Blackwood (Celtic Crusaders), Andy Bracek (Warrington Wolves), Lee Briers (Warrington Wolves), Phil Cushion (Celtic Crusaders), Geraint Davies (Celtic Crusaders), Hywel Davies (Celtic Crusaders), Gareth Dean (Celtic Crusaders), Luke Dyer (Celtic Crusaders), Grant Epton (Celtic Crusaders), Damien Gibson (Halifax), Dave Halley (Bradford Bulls), Iestyn Harris (Bradford Bulls), Adam Hughes (Oldham), Jordan James (Celtic Crusaders), Matt James (Bradford Bulls), Phil Joseph (Halifax), Craig Kopczak (Bradford Bulls), Mark Lennon (Celtic Crusaders), Sean Penkywicz (Halifax), Bryn Powell (Dewsbury Rams), Robert Roberts (Oldham), Byron Smith (Rochdale Hornets), Aaron Summers (Celtic Crusaders), Ian Watson (Halifax), Ian Webster (Celtic Crusaders).

Papua New Guinea (from): John Wilshere (Salford City Reds), Steve Franciscus (Canberra Raiders), Keith Peters (Penrith Panthers), Tu Maori (Cronulla Sharks), Paul Aiton (Penrith Panthers), James Nightingale (Penrith Panthers), Rod Griffin (Wests Tigers), George Keppa (Brisbane Easts), Kevin Prior (Redcliffe Dolhpins), Trevor Exton (Ipswich Jets, Australia), Menzie Yere (Kokopo Island Gurias), Michael Mark (Port Moresby Bulldogs), Gimapau Keimelo (Wri Vele Raiders), Jessie Joe (Port Moresby Bulldogs), Benjamin John (Port Moresby Bulldogs), Rodney Pora (Kokopo Island Gurias), Charlie Wabo (Mendi Muruks), Nigel Hukula (Goroka Lahanis), George Moni (Mendi Muruks), Joseph Omae (Mendi Muruks), Nixon Kolo (Wri Vele Raiders), Porian Bal (Pagini Warriors), Nicko Slain (Goroka Lahanis)

article by Ian Golden
25 October 2007