France have kept their hopes of qualifying for the 2026 Rugby League World Cup alive by defeating one of the home nations.
Wales lost 48-6 to France, although head coach John Kear wasn’t present for the defeat after not travelling on medical advice after being admitted to hospital on Sunday night.
That news meant that Wales were led by Kear’s long-term assistant Mark Moxon with the Batley Bulldogs boss overseeing the 48-0 win over Serbia on Tuesday, as well as today’s defeat.
France took the lead early on against Wales with Catalans’ Arthur Romano scoring before teammate Cesar Rouge converted to make it 6-0 after just six minutes.
Rouge would then score two more within the opening 25 minutes with the Catalans’ full-back running riot. He was back on kicking duties minutes after that when Romain Franco scored in the corner.
Ex-Salford man Rhys Williams gave Wales hope by pulling one back before the break to make it 20-6 with that try moving him ahead of the legendary Jonathan Davies into fourth on the all-time points scorers for Wales.
That celebration will have been shortlived though as France scored two within the opening ten minutes of the second half through Eloi Pelissier and recently-released Leeds Rhinos man Justin Sangare.
Theo Fages added a seventh before Lambert Belmas added another in the dying minutes to cement a resounding 48-6 win. France now progresses to next year’s World Series to try and book their place at the 2026 World Cup.
Wales miss out on 2026 Rugby League World Cup
Credit: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com
It’s a devastating loss for Wales as it sees their hopes of featuring at the 2026 Rugby League World Cup end with France now progressing to the next stage of qualifying.
Qualifying for the World Cup has been far more difficult in that the tournament has been slashed from 16 teams to just ten, whilst nations such as Ireland have effectively been disqualified as only full Internation Rugby League members will be eligible.
The restructure to ten teams has seen the qualifying process change with the eight quarter-finalists from the delayed 2021 tournament automatically qualifying, leaving just two available positions.
They are determined by the 2025 World Series which will see the winner of today’s game, France, join the Cook Islands, Jamaica and South Africa with the top two teams from that event confirming their place at the World Cup in 2026.
Llawn amser ⏱️
A late converted try for Belmas and it’s defeat to the French in Perpignan.@ticketpassHQ | Sterling Designs | @davegibsonphoto pic.twitter.com/LwJTWwnsCQ
— Wales Rugby League (@WalesRugbyL) October 26, 2024
