Rugby League World Cup: England star Seb Bechara on wheelchair game 'trending on Twitter'

England star Seb Bechara has said he loves seeing "wheelchair rugby league trending" on social media as his side prepare for their World Cup match against Ireland on Wednesday.

Hosts England, already through to the semi-finals, will advance as group winners if they avoid defeat in London.

They beat Australia 38-8 and thrashed Spain 104-12 in their opening two fixtures.

"Wheelchair rugby league was trending number four on Twitter," said Bechara.

"I went to bed scrolling through all the thousands of positive comments.

"It was brilliant. I loved finally seeing some recognition for our sport that we've been playing for so long."

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England's win against Spain and Ireland's loss to Australia at the Copper Box Arena on Thursday was watched by a crowd of 3,268, a record for a wheelchair rugby league game.

Ireland come in to their final group match with England still searching for their first win at this year's World Cup.

The big-hitting trumpeter

Bechara, who lives in France and plays for Catalans Dragons, has starred for England in their opening two wins.

He lost the lower half of his right leg in a motorcycle accident in July 2012; outside of wheelchair rugby he tours Europe as a professional trumpet player.

"The motorcycle accident made me refocus on what I was passionate about," Bechara told the BBC Radio 5 Live Rugby League World Cup Podcast.

"I decide a career in finance and business was quite boring for me. I was only following that path because I thought I had to.

"I put all my focus into playing the trumpet. Classical, jazz, festive stuff; all sorts of different styles.

"It's also a great job for getting time off for rugby. Not all of the lads can do that."

Bechara (right) played in England's World Cup final loss to France in 2017

'Every city should have a wheelchair team'

Bechara told the Rugby League World Cup Podcast he believes the wheelchair game has even more potential to grow worldwide than the running game, although he did say there is a barrier - the price of a chair.

"My trumpet costs £5,000, but you can buy a beginner one for £200," he added.

"It's similar at the top end of the sport, we have made-to-measure chairs that cost £10,000.

"But with this World Cup the RLWC2021 funding programme has given every city that showed an interest a bunch of brand-new chairs.

"To start a team is not too difficult any more.

"I just hope the sport is going to grow throughout the country and the world after the tournament. There is no reason why there shouldn't be a club in every city in the country."

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