Five debutants join experienced heads in Britain's Wheelchair Rugby World Championships squad

Tokyo 2021

Great Britain have named an exciting 12-man squad featuring five debutants for the 2018 Wheelchair Rugby World Championships in Sydney.

The reigning European champions will hand maiden world caps to nearly half of the squad for the event in Australia, set to take place from August 5-10.

The team will be led by London Wheelchair Rugby Club’s Chris Ryan and coached by Paul Shaw.

“This is an exciting team selection with a number of good ball-handlers,” said David Pond, Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby chief executive.

“Preparation has been good and I believe in this team.

“The Worlds are a tough competition and we will need to be at our absolute best if we are to get through to the final stages.”

The GB outfit - ranked fifth in the world - have been handed a tough draw with second and third-ranked USA and Canada joining them in Pool B.

Vice-captain Gavin Walker represented ParalympicsGB at Rio 2016

France, Poland and Colombia are their other group stage opponents, with World and Paralympic champions Australia drawn in Pool A.

Shaw’s squad features veteran Jonathan Coggan, with the Chelmsford man competing at a record fourth championship, while Chris Ryan will wear the captain’s armband.

While Aaron Phipps embodies the spirit of this side as he returns for the first time since London 2012, having climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in 2016.

Shaw commented: “We’ve selected an exciting squad to take into the World Championships and I’m confident we can do something special.”

A strong performance in Australia could pave the way for a Paralympic push for the British team, with their last outing at Rio 2016 seeing them finish in fifth place after beating Sweden in a play-off.

Indeed only the fine margins of rugby prevented them finishing higher, with their two group-stage losses to Canada and Australia coming by just one and two points respectively.

Great Britain squad for the 2018 Wheelchair Rugby World Championships: Jonathan Coggan, Muhammad Islam, Ryan Cowling, Myles Pearson, Nick Cummins, Chris Ryan, Gavin Walker, Ayaz Bhuta, Jamie Stead, Jim Roberts, Aaron Phipps, Stuart Robinson

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