glory

England (28) 50

Tries: Coyd 4, Hawkins 2, Brown 3 Goals: Hawkins, Collins 6

France (22) 38

Tries: Bourson, L Hivernat, Dore, Guttadoro, Denuwelaere 3 Goals: L Hivernat 3, N Clausells 2

England can now paint the final rung on their dressing-room ladder gold.

On Friday in Wollongong, Australia, they became the first nation to lift the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup on three occasions with a peerless display to defeat France 50-38.

And just as they did four years ago, Tom Coyd’s wheelchair side have delivered a triumph to offset the disappointment felt by the men’s and women’s teams.

This was always going to be close. The only surprise was that 12 points separated the wheelchair game’s two powerhouse nations.

Since Tom Halliwell’s last-gasp try secured a 28-24 win in Manchester in 2022, England and France had met on four occasions, with both winning twice.

In the build-up to this tournament, and during it, England spoke of a desire to win the trophy – rather than defend it. It was a choice of language that spoke of a positive approach. They did what they set out to do on the sport’s biggest stage.

Joe Coyd – who scored four tries, including the opening two of the match – and Jack Brown, who finished with a hat-trick, will grab many of the headlines but there were heroes draped in white all over the Wollongong Entertainment Centre.

A thunderous encounter was punctuated by bruising collisions, heavy chair smashes and running repairs being made to equipment that included the reconstruction of a set of goalposts – as emotions threatened to boil over on more than one occasion.

Those facets, married to some outrageous moments of skill, all contributed to a nerve-shredding contest that delivered a super advertisement for the wheelchair game.

Hawkins, who recently became the first player in any form of rugby league to win three successive Golden Boots – awarded by the IRL to the best player in the world during the calendar year – lived up to his billing.

The Halifax wing provided some wonderful moments, including two tries, and he superbly evaded two French defenders before laying on a score for Brown as the contest swing England’s way before the break.

Having started in the ascendancy, courtesy of two Coyd tries, England were in danger of losing momentum – an early flashpoint threatening to shift the match towards France as Mason Billington was penalised for shoving Leo Hivernat to the ground.

France capitalised with a try in the corner from Jeremy Bourson. Damien Dore, Hivernat and Florian Guttadoro all crossed before a wonderful England response.

And even when Dany Denuwelaere scored to underscore France’s whirlwind start to the second half, England immediately regained control as Hawkins acrobatically grounded the ball in the right corner to restore their six-point advantage.

They never looked back from that point on. And they have a third World Cup to prove it.

When Mr Kilpatrick returns to his classroom in Doha after mid-term, the scale of the achievement back home may be lost on those around him.

So he admits he may have to get creative when explaining the events of his trip back home.

“Well it’s funny, it’s a Spanish outfit that I’m working for so they haven’t got a clue who Edendork are or what Gaelic football is.

“But they don’t need to know, I’ll tell them that I had a great week.

“It’s my World Cup, every bit of it. I’ll be able to enjoy myself now and then I’ll get back next week, and we’ll just reminisce about what’s happened.”

Neil is the brother of Tyrone star Conn Kilpatrick, so the club’s first senior county title was an extra special.

“It’s definitely special and I was gutted at the last couple of years that I didn’t come home for the championship.

“I was watching it on TV and just to experience this with Conn, and experience this with family, is something that I’ll never forget.”

He adds that living away from home means he only gets six or seven weeks in the summer back in Tyrone, and winning a title with those he grew up with means “it’s probably hard to put into words”.

“To many people this probably means nothing, but to the few that are out here on the field and are part of the Edendork community this is everything.

“We’ll probably never experience a day like this ever again so you just have got to soak it up and enjoy every single bit of it.”