In-form Johnston inspires Ireland to victory over Scots

The Scots, for whom Castleford Tigers’ Calum Japes started from the interchange bench, were hoping to begin their IRL Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup 2026 preparations with a victory but they had no answer to the strong Irish side.

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 said: “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 said.

“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.

Mark Robertson and Alex Howe crossed for the hosts.