Joe Coyd and Jack Heggie combined to devastating effect as England overcame a spirited Spain challenge in an entertaining Wheelchair Rugby League international on neutral French territory in Nantes.
Coyd, the Kent-based younger brother of England’s head coach Tom who was a key member of the World Cup winning squad of 2022, scored four of the team’s nine tries and had a hand in several more, including a spectacular second for Chris Haynes of Sheffield Eagles to complete the scoring on his debut.
Meanwhile Heggie, making his first England appearance for a decade, accumulated 28 points from three tries and eight goals from as many attempts.
Adam Rigby, Heggie’s Wigan team-mate who was captaining the national team for the first time, said: “Jack will be so chuffed with the way he’s come back into the team after such a long time. He was great today and so was Joe Coyd – but I also want to credit the three guys who were making their debuts, Jason Owen, Tristan Norfolk and Chris Haynes.
“It’s a game of momentum and late in the first half that was with Spain. But we had a good chat in the changing room about getting back to our process, and the second half was a much better performance. I’m proud as punch to have captained that team – it’s beyond any dreams I could have had as a kid.”
Tom Coyd said: “There’s so many positives to take out of that, for us but also for Wheelchair Rugby League. Spain have showed that they can be another competitive team in Europe. They asked us a lot of questions, and it’s to our guys’ credit that they had the answers in that second half.
“For Chris Haynes to come in from a Championship club at Sheffield after his first full season and play 80 minutes of an international is unheard of really. For Jack Heggie and also Nathan Holmes of Halifax, who was also returning after a long absence from the international set-up, they’ve really shown what they can contribute.”
Of his brother, Coyd said: “Joe was the most capped player on that England team, and it showed. We started the game brilliantly well with four tries and he was involved in all of them. Then when he came back on with 15 minutes to go, he showed exactly what we had to do to close out the game.”
Coyd has already named a different eight-man team to face France in Saint-Lo on Saturday evening in the latest instalment of Wheelchair Rugby League’s fiercest rivalry, with the French aiming to bounce back from a 66-33 defeat in Wigan last month.
England had surged to a 24-6 lead here with two tries each from Heggie and Coyd, but Yannick Martin inspired Spain’s fightback by setting up two tries for his captain Joel Lacombe, and scoring two himself.
The first try of the second half always seemed likely to be crucial and England scored it through Haynes after slick hands from Rigby and Norfolk.
Owen, another of the strong southern contingent in the England squad who joined London Roosters from Gravesend Dynamite this year, then scored one try and laid on Heggie’s hat-trick score, before Coyd came back off the bench to dominate the closing stages.
England: 1 Wayne Boardman, 2 Joe Coyd, 3 Jack Heggie, 4 Adam Rigby (captain), 5 Chris Haynes. Interchange: 6 Jason Owen, 7 Tristan Norfolk, 8 Nathan Holmes. 9th player Jack Brown.
Tries: Heggie 3, Coyd 4, Haynes 2, Owen. Goals: Heggie 8, Owen.
Spain: 1 Methieu Monedero, 2 Anthony Martin, 4 Joel Lacombe (captain), 9 Yannick Martin, 12 Will Seron. Interchange: 7 Pascal Ambrosino, 10 Eric Perez.
Tries: Lacombe 2, Martin 3. Goals: Seron 3, Martin.
Half-Time: England 24 Spain 22.
Lead Referee: Djamel Merzouk.
Second Referee: Ludo Pioginni.
