History was made on the 14th May at the Irish Wheelchair association sports hall in Clontarf, Dublin as Wheelchair Rugby League was played in Ireland for the very first time. Current head Coach Damian McCabe travelled from the UK to host a trial session along with team Captain Peter Johnston and his Belfast born father Peter, assistant coach. The session was attended by players from Dublin, Limerick and Belfast.
Wheelchair Rugby League is a fast-paced sport developed in France in 2000 and has been played in the UK since 2005, where there is now a thriving competition with numerous leagues and around 20 clubs participating. Although there has been a UK based Ireland Wheelchair Rugby League side for the last 10 years attempts to launch the sport in Ireland have until now met with no success.
The trialists mixed it up for fours hours at the dedicated disability sport venue and by the end, though exhausted they expressed their enjoyment and a desire to play the game again.
