Wales Dragonhearts will break new ground this weekend when they travel to Lodz to take on a Poland XIII.
Matches will be played on both Saturday (kick-off 5pm CET, 4pm GMT) and Sunday (1pm/noon), with the representatives of the Welsh community game taking a 26-man squad.
It’s the first time that Wales have taken on Poland in any level of rugby league. An observer member of European Rugby League, the sport has been played in Poland since 2011 when founder Lukasz Lucka discovered the game on the internet and decided it was the perfect sport for the youth of his home city, Lodz.
Their first ever international match was in September 2018 when they lost 76-0 to Norway. However they’ve faired better since then. In total, they’ve played 16 senior men’s international matches, winning eight times and even won a “World Emerging Nations Trophy” in 2018.
The matches against Wales will not be classed as senior men’s international matches, but Dragonhearts appearances and caps will be awarded.
Wales Dragonhearts, who celebrated their 30th anniversary since their first international match this year, go into this weekend in good form having beaten Germany 56-12 last Saturday in Port Talbot. Poland have lost matches against Germany and the Czech Republic this autumn.
Head coach Simon Reynolds said: “We’re all looking forward to the weekend to make history. We arrive around 6pm on Thursday, train on Friday morning and then get ready for the weekend.
“This will be a great opportunity for our players to play somewhere that very few rugby league players have gone to and we’re proud to represent Wales in Lodz this weekend.”
Wales Dragonhearts tour squad: Daniel Coombs (Army Rugby League), Lloyd Allen, Lewis Francis, Tyler Hopkins, Ben Jackson, Keiron John, Alan Pope (all Aberavon Fighting Irish), Llewellyn Hawkes*, Lloyd Pritchard (both Bridgend Blue Bulls), Brandon Lamb (Bristol All Golds), Ryan Price-Jones* (Clock Face Miners), Raymond Lear (Conwy Celts), Aidyn Jones (Flintshire Falcons), Ben O’Connell, Josh O’Connell* (both Pilkington Recs), Jack Griffiths (Rhondda Outlaws), Chris Harris, Shane Lee, Jacob Purcell (all South Wales Jets), Chris Jones*, Alfie Matthias, Jonny Rae (all Thatto Heath Crusaders), Brad Llewellyn (Thornhill Trojans), Kurtis Haile, Nathan Tucker (both Torfaen Tigers), Jake Spedding (Ulverston).
*uncapped
