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The team date back to 1907, making them the third oldest national side after England and New Zealand. And it was a touring New Zealand side that Wales first played against in 1908, winning 9-8 at Aberdare. Since then Wales have regularly played England, since 1935 France, as well as welcomed the touring Australia and New Zealand teams, although they rarely toured themselves, not playing a match in the Southern Hemisphere until 1975. For twenty-six years Wales competed against their two biggest rivals, England and France, in the European Nations Cup, winning the trophy four times. They have also competed in the World Cup on three occasions, the first time being in 1975. In 1995 and 2000 they had their most successful tournaments to date, surprisingly making the Semi-Finals on both occasions before being beaten by England and Australia respectively. Wales failed to qualify for the 2008 World Cup, being the second highest ranked side not to do so, having lost to Scotland on points difference over two matches. Similar to many other Welsh national sporting teams, Wales strip has been primarily red for many years, including now. However in their last World Cup campaign in 2000 they did wear a shirt featuring the Welsh flag, adding a touch of green and white. The team is known as "The Dragons" and so the teams logo on the shirt is a red dragon. Currently the team is ranked seventh in the world. They dropped from the top ten after being the only home nation that failed to qualify for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. In Europe only they are ranked sixth, once again behind Lebanon but ahead of Russia and Serbia. In 2008 Australian John Dixon became the new head coach and Lee Briers is captain, having played for Wales since 1998. The past few seasons Wales have taken massive strides former player Iestyn Harris has coached Wales to back to back European Cup successes which will culminate in a Four Nations appearance in 2011. |
