West Aussie Secures Selection for Wheelchair Rugby World Champs

Published On: 26 July 2018

Western Australian Jake Howe has earned selection on the 11-man Australian Steelers squad for the 2018 Wheelchair Rugby World Championships in Australia.

Howe and the Aussies will be looking to create a slice of history by becoming the first nation to win the title on home soil.

Sydney will host the 12-nation tournament from August 5-10 and whilst the reigning world champion and dual defending Paralympic gold medallists will be favourites to break that hoodoo, head coach Brad Dubberley will ensure his squad exercises appropriate caution.

“A lot of guys in this team have so much experience and have won some gold medals at major tournaments, but we also know we’re one or two bad games away from a disappointing tournament,” Dubberley said.

“Every game is going to be a war for us but we’re ready to take it on. We’re not thinking about what has happened in the past, we just want to win this for the guys who haven’t won [a major championship] before and enjoy the opportunity to hopefully share our success with a home crowd and in front of our friends and family.”

Dubberley’s remarks are particularly relevant for Howe, who along with Queenslander Josh Nicholson, are the only members of the squad not to have achieved success at a major championship.

Having debuted for the Steelers in 2017, Howe will add to his 41 existing caps for Australia when the Aussies face New Zealand, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland and Japan in their group.

The medal round will take place on Friday, August 10.