Wales boss hits out after northern teams’ World Cup route made much tougher

JOHN Kear has hit out after northern hemisphere teams’ journeys to the Rugby League World Cup even tougher.

Put simply, it all looks primed for the Pacific.

International Rugby League’s decision to cut the tournament from 16 nations to 10 has left the likes of Wales facing a slog.

Kear’s side faces European qualifiers against Serbia and, most likely, France in France, but even coming through does not book a place at Australia 2026.

For whoever wins will have to head to the World Series, where they, Cook Islands, tonight’s opponents Jamaica and South Africa – who want to host it – will fight for the last two spots.

As it stands, England and Lebanon are the only qualified sides north of the Equator – and the latter is formed of Aussie heritage players.

And Kear fears Wales, along with the likes of France, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica and Greece, who all featured in 2022, may be cast aside as the riches of the NRL in the Pacific region dominate.

“It’s sad,” he said. “We’re supposed to be encouraging the spread of the game – one of the ways you do that is by featuring at a World Cup.

“Rugby union has shown us the way. Teams have been walloped but what it does is create a profile and interest.

“Even though there’s the World Series, you’ve got to say the Cook Islands are favourites as they could be virtually on home turf.

“It’s sad and it’s something we need to address.”

Kear’s squad takes to the pitch in Neath tonight for, astonishingly, the first senior men’s international in South Wales since 2016.

And he told SunSport of his hopes to get an annual game in that area as Billy Walkley leads the new generation of homegrown talent.

He added: “Billy’s a very confident and very gifted kid. I’m excited to see what he brings to the party. I think he’ll surprise a few people.

“The fact it’s an inexperienced squad is testament to the work going on down there. A lot of the younger players have come through our pathway.

“It’s a heck of an important game regarding us re-establishing ourselves in South Wales. Hopefully, we’ll play an annual game – make people realise there is another code out there.”