Leeds Beckett students and graduates to take part in 2021 Rugby League World Cup

Leeds Beckett’s cohort will represent England Women as well as Fiji, Jamaica, Scotland and Wales in the men’s competition. 

Carnegie School of Sport student Keara Bennett and graduate Leah Burke have both been included in England Women’s squad. Keara won the Women’s Super League Grand Final with Leeds Rhinos, while Leah won the Betfred Challenge Cup with St Helens.

The England teams have been preparing for the World Cup with the help of experts from the Carnegie School of Sport.

Leeds Beckett University Professor and Head of Performance for England Rugby League, Ben Jones, has led performance testing with England’s teams throughout the season, utilising the £45m state-of-the-art facilities in the Carnegie School of Sport in the hope of England being crowned World Champions.

Jamaica will have the largest amount of Leeds Beckett representatives with five players selected by head coach, and fellow Leeds Beckett graduate Jermaine Coleman. The Reggae Warriors will include graduates Michael Lawrence, James Woodburn-Hall, Keenen Tomlinson, Jy-Mel Coleman and former student Ashton Golding.

Twin brothers Connor and Curtis Davies are represent Wales. Both graduates played for Leeds Beckett University’s Rugby League team, and professionally for Halifax, during their time at the university.

MA (Hons) Sports Business Management graduate, and Salford Red Devils star, Ryan Brierley will represent Scotland. Ryan has a wealth of Super League experience including a Challenge Cup final appearance and most recently helped Salford reach the Super League play-off semi-finals.

Carnegie School of Sport Lecturer and former Super League coach James Webster will be part of the coaching staff for Fiji. Webster, who has previously occupied coaching roles at Leeds Rhinos, Wakefield Trinity, Hull Kingston Rovers and Featherstone Rovers brings a wealth of experience to the squad.

The Rugby League World Cup was postponed due to the impact of the pandemic and will take place throughout October and November across 15 cities in the UK. Leeds is set to host venues, with group fixtures and finals games being played at Headingley Stadium as well as Elland Road for the men’s and women’s competitions.

The Rugby League World Cup will kick off with England men on Saturday 15 October in their opening fixture against Samoa at St James’ Park, Newcastle, kick-off at 14:30.