Tough task for Jamaica’s Reggae Warriors

Jamaica’s Reggae Warriors are in France today and stand potentially just 80 minutes away from qualifying for a second successive Rugby League World Cup.

But a mountain of handicaps have been put in their way and Jy-mel Coleman, joint-coach, alongside Australian Rhys Lovegrove, is realistic, yet insists sport is unpredictable and there is always a chance, however small.

The prize for victory is a trip to Australia/Papua New Guinea for next year’s finals, but the goalposts have been moved since the 2022 competition was staged in England.

The Reggae Warriors, while not winning any of their three group games, were a huge hit with the crowds for their unconventional style, including the almost unheard of repeated use of short kick-offs which often concede ground but can also result in immediate possession after conceding points.

The final eliminator at the Stade Municipal d’Albi is for the ninth qualifying spot, with the Cook Islands and South Africa due to face off on November 9 for the last place in a competition reduced from 16 to ten nations.

The eight quarter-finalists from three years ago: holders Australia, Samoa, England, New Zealand, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Lebanon, automatically booked their tickets, leaving just two places for emerging nations.

Full-time professionals France lie eighth in the global rankings while Jamaica,, with a squad made up of largely part-time players, are 20th.

‘We are massive underdogs’

Even more damaging, only three of the ex-pats, British-based side are used to the intensity likely to be displayed in the south of France by a home nation which have twice been losing World Cup finalists and have already stated that not making the Australia 2026 would be unthinkable.

Reggae Warriors’ stalwart Michael Lawrence and Jordan Turner boast almost 700 first-grade games between them, but both have just retired, leaving Huddersfield pair Ashton Golding and Kieran Rush, plus former Leeds Rhinos’ Super League winner Ben Jones Bishop – scorer of Jamaica’s first-ever World Cup try in 2022 – to provide much-needed experience at this level.

“We are missing a few of the better-known players for various reasons,” admitted Coleman.

“On paper we are massive underdogs, so it’s a really tough task, but rugby league is not played on paper, it’s played on the field and it’s sport so anything can happen?”

Jamaica’s director of Rugby Romeo Monteith, who is based in Canada, so logistically unable to be in the south of France, admits the qualification system this time around is stacked against his country of birth, adding,“I’m disappointed as Cook Islands team is made up of players from the lower level of the Australian leagues and had we played in a round-robin system, as was originally planned, I’m sure we could have qualified in second place behind France.”

Further frustration is caused by two star names: Callum Watkins and Dom Young being called into the England squad that contests the first of three ‘Ashes’ Tests against Australia, which take place the same day at a sold-out (70,000) Wembley.

Jamaica’s women, meanwhile, take on England’s ‘Community Lions’ (players attached to clubs outside of the top tier Super League) in St Helens this weekend, with a full international against Scotland scheduled for Featherstone in Yorkshire on Saturday, November 1.