Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup: Wales see off USA 50-32 to keep semi-final hopes alive

Wales kept their Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup hopes alive by beating debutants USA.

Skipper Stuart Williams led the way for Wales with three of their nine tries, while Jeff Townsend impressed for USA by scoring four of their six tries.

Scotland remain winless after losing 80-15 to defending champions France, for whom Nicolas Clausells claimed four tries and seven goals.

But a win over Wales in the final group game could see Scotland sneak through.

France booked a semi-final spot with their win over the Scots and will now face USA to confirm top spot in Group B.

Assuming France beat USA, if Scotland best Wales then there would be three teams on a win apiece and the runner-up spot would be decided on points difference.

But if Wales are victorious against the Scots on Thursday then a semi-final spot will be theirs.

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France thumped Wales 154-6 in their tournament opener on Friday, while Scotland lost 62-41 to USA.

Wales struggled initially with the USA tactics of punting the ball over the top then relying on their speedsters to gather and score, with Townsend and Mackenzie Johnson tries giving them a 10-0 lead within 10 minutes.

But Wales regrouped and slowly brought their greater rugby league nous to bear, putting players into space and creating gaps in the USA defence.

Helped by captain Williams' excellent first half hat-trick and some fierce first-up tackling, the Dragons fought back to lead 30-22 at the break.

Stephen Halsey and Harry Jones stretched the Welsh lead in the second half and although Townsend hit back for USA, Wales always had control of the scoreboard and Scott Trigg-Turner's converted try took Wales to the 50-point mark.

After finishing in the bronze medal position last time out in 2017, Wales' hopes of a repeat performance remain alive.

Wales captain Stuart Williams:

"That means a lot, our guys... showed heart, showed determination. We believed in our grit and determination and also our experience and that showed through.

"We had some great set-pieces. Andy Higgins, Gary Preece, Steve Halsey was like a battering ram, a truck and the guys on the bench were great, we could hear them - it was like we had a sixth player out there.

"It was a great effort all around and I couldn't be more proud of they effort they put in there.

"USA were fantastic and they've got one heck of a pace on them, and they've got really decent rugby coming on."