Hawkins scores five as England beat New South Wales

Rob Hawkins scored five tries in Sydney as England’s wheelchair rugby league team won 86-10 to begin their tour of Australia.

After helping his team, the Halifax Panthers, win the Challenge Cup, League Leaders’ Shield, and Grand Final, Hawkins, the reigning international wheelchair player of the year, wants to wrap up a memorable 2025 with a victory in the Ashes series.

As head coach Tom Coyd divided his squad into half-games, with five of them playing the first half and the other five, the other half, with England scoring 15 tries.

Before the break, debutant Luis Domingos, captain Lewis King, and veteran Wayne Boardman crossed for England’s first four tries, all scored by Hawkins’ Halifax team-mate Jack Brown. Five more goals were added by Boardman.

In the second half, Halifax’s Finlay O’Neill made his debut while Leeds pivot Nathan Collins scored 20 points from a try and eight goals, while Wheels of Steel winner Joe Coyd touched down once and Seb Bechara twice.

The game against New South Wales was very important, according to Tom Coyd, who admitted that we had jet lag and fatigue this week after the flight.

We needed to get out on the field together because it has been almost a year since our last game as an England team, with the last Test against France being in November.

“It was great to see Finlay O’Neill and Luis Domingos in action in their first official English uniforms,” said one participant. “I think we’ll wake up on Saturday morning knowing that we’ve arrived in Australia.