Steelers Buoyed By Canada Cup Results On Eve Of World Championships

Australia’s wheelchair rugby success at the prestigious Canada Cup was seeded in the embarrassment of a stinging loss at home to the old enemy just weeks earlier.

The Steelers not only exacted sweet revenge on Great Britain at the heavyweight tournament earlier this month, they also beat each of their four other powerhouse opponents, including world No.1 Japan, before falling short by just two tries to Japan in the final.

The silver medal has left the Australians ready to pounce at the World Championships in Sao Paulo in August, where they will seek to successfully defend the title they won in Denmark in 2022. The Australian squad for the World Championships is expected to be named early next month.

“We came into the Canada Cup with plenty of hunger and we beat every team there and then just lost in the final – with plenty we can still work on – against the best team in the world,” Steelers captain Chris Bond said.  

“So, we’re very happy with how we performed and very happy with where we’re headed. We’ve got the belief now that we can do some great things over in Brazil.”

The Steelers secured outstanding results in Canada: 58-42 over the hosts, 67-41 against Brazil, a 51-50 overtime win against Japan and a thumping 57-48 thrashing of Great Britain. After then beating France 49-44, the Australians succumbed to Japan 51-49 in the final.

“Getting that narrow win against Japan, I think that really set us up,” Bond said.

“The next day we played Great Britain, who embarrassed us on our home soil (at the World Challenge in Adelaide in April). They beat us by eight or 10 or something, which is unheard of and, to us, it was embarrassing.

“We needed to make amends for that, put them back in their place, and we managed to do that.

“I think those two games really set the tone for us. By then, we were on fire. We beat France and went through undefeated to the final.”

Bond said he was especially pleased that every player in the squad played “genuine minutes” and new lineups were successful. Superstar six-time Paralympian Ryley Batt, who has been reclassified from 3.5 to 3.0, continued his managed return to international competition and Bond, too, came through unscathed after battling injury recently.

“It looks like it’s going to be a selection headache,” Bond said of the Australian team for the World Championships.

“There’s a lot of athletes who could hold their own at the top level at the moment and it’s going to come down to what lineups are performing the best and what’s going to get us over the line at Worlds. It’s been four years; the team’s changed a fair bit.”

Bond said it was likely the squad would come together for two camps before leaving for Brazil. 

“One of our focuses as a team is to be a bit more open and bring our family and friends into that environment too, as well as past players,” he said. “We’re going to introduce a bit of that for at least one of those camps. Then probably the final camp will be just locked in and creating an unbreakable connection before we go away.”

By: David Sygall, Paralympics Australia

Photo credit: Wheelchair Rugby Australia / Tav Morrison Media

Published: 16 June 2026