Senior International Matches (Wheelchair) : 2025

Sat 18th October 2025   - KO  13:00 - Oriam Performance Centre, Edinburgh
Official: Matthew Ball & Karli Wilkinson (England)

Scotland

6

FT

58

Half Time
6 - 22

Ireland

Tries

Max Owen (13)

Pete Johnston (2,67,71,74)
Toby Burton-Carter (6,41)
Mel Griffith (31)
Cian Horgan (38,52)
Oran Spain (43)
Joe Calcott (64)

Goals

John Willans (1/1)

Pete Johnston (4/5)
Cian Horgan (3/4)
Tom Martin (0/2)

Match Preview: Scotland and Ireland announce squads for wheelchair double header

In preparation for the 2026 Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup, Scotland and Ireland meet in a senior international on Saturday at The Oriam Performance Centre near Edinburgh, kick off 1pm.

Owing to the increasing talent pool now available to both nations, the game will be preceded by an “A” team international at 11am, which will give both an opportunity to hand meaningful game time to their extended squads.

Scotland have named Callum Davidson and Olivia Fulton as co-captains of their senior side as the squad continues its evolution under head coach Martyn Gill. He will potentially hand debuts to London Roosters’ Max Owen and Rochdale Hornets’ Bradley Gleave for the senior side.

Ally Pax Arcari Mari, Arran King and Cassandra Cooper will get their first taste of international honours in the “A” team, which will be captained by Alex Howe. “This is a transformational, rebuilding year for us — a chance to lay the foundations for the future,” said Gill.

“We’ve introduced several new players who bring fresh energy and hunger to the team, and this fixture is a valuable step in their development on the international stage. Our focus isn’t just on the result, but on growing a squad that can compete with consistency and pride in the years ahead. Our inclusion in the 2026 World Cup provides an opportunity to compete on the biggest stage and every challenge we face now is part of shaping the team we want to become.”

Ireland will see 17-year-old Cormac Downey handed his senior debut in a squad which looks very similar to their back-to-back Celtic Cup winning side. James McCarthy is named in the “A” team and will lead them as captain alongside Sean McCullagh, Jack Mangan, Mick Murphy and Bledi Suxha who are all set to play their first games in Irish colours. 

Ireland head coach, Phil Roberts, noted: “As always, our goal is improvement. We have challenged the group with some ambitious targets and if we achieve those, our performance will take care of itself. These fixtures are an important part of our development, providing playing opportunities for an extended squad and giving players a chance to put their learning into practice. This will prove to be invaluable as we start to focus on 2026." 

Tickets for both games are on sale: www.eventbrite.com/e/scotland-v-ireland-double-header-autumn-internationals-tickets-1633747736459

Scotland 
Calum Davidson, David Hill, Hamish Douglas, John Willans, Mark Robertson, Olivia Fulton, Sarah Devlin (Edinburgh Giants) Bradley Gleave (Rochdale Hornets) Calum Japes (Castleford Tigers), Max Owen (London Roosters)

Scotland A
Alex Howe (Widnes Vikings), Ally Pax Arcari Mair, Arran King, Cassandra Cooper (Edinburgh Giants) David Anderson (Kings Lynn Knights) plus 2x players de-selected from 10-player squad.

Ireland
Joseph Calcott (Connacht), Toby Burton Carter, Mel Griffith, Oran Spain (Leinster), Cormac Downey, Cian Horgan (Munster), Peter Johnston, Tom Martin (Ulster)

Ireland A
Phil Roberts (Connacht), Sean McCullagh, Jack Mangan, Mick Murphy, Bledar Suxha (Leinster), James McCarthy, Maurice Noonan, Ellie Sheehy (Munster). 

16 October 2025
1 David Hill
Starting Player
Joe Calcott 1
2 Olivia Fulton
Starting Player
Toby Burton-Carter 2
3 Max Owen
Starting Player
Mel Griffith 3
4 Calum Davidson
Starting Player
Cian Horgan 4
5 John Willans
Starting Player
Pete Johnston 5
6 Hamish Douglas
Int1
Tom Martin 6
7 Calum Japes
Int2
Oran Spain 7
8 Sarah Devlin
Int3
Cormac Downey 8
9 Brad Gleave
Reserve
Match Report: Ireland gun down Scotland Wheelchair 6-58 in Edinburgh

Four tries and goals from Pete Johnston saw Ireland defeat Scotland 58-6 in a senior wheelchair international at the Oriam Performance Centre, Edinburgh, as both nations began their IRL Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup 2026 preparations.

Outstanding Johnston also had a hand in most of Ireland’s most incisive play which also set up try doubles for Toby Burton-Carter and Cian Horgan, while Mel Griffith, Oran Spain and Joe Calcott also got on the score sheet.

Ireland head coach, Phil Roberts, commented: “It was key for the growth of our domestic game that those players had an opportunity to play internationally and after some initial nerves, it was an accomplished performance. We got off to a scratchy start, but that was in part due to the improvement of the Scotland team. Once we calmed down and cut out some errors we were able to concentrate on the way we wanted to play and put some nice rugby together.”

For Scotland there were several positives including Max Owen’s try on debut and David Hill’s stunning early second half try saving tackle, with head coach Martyn Gill seeing encouragement as his side rebuilds.

“It was close at half time compared to the Celtic Cup match earlier in the year,” he noted. “We were fatigued in the second half, but our performance indicators were about improvement and how we take that into 2026 and turn some of our effort into 80-minute performances. Deepening the pathway is really important.”

In the ‘A’ team game beforehand, Ireland also had the upper hand, winning 68-8, Jack Mangan the star of the show with six tries. James McCarthy and Maurice Noonan bagged braces each and Bledi Suxha, who also kicked six goals, and Shaun McCullagh both scored tries on debut.

18 October 2025