WALES will play the USA – and potentially their former captain Peter Lupton – in a men’s international this autumn as they look to improve on their current world ranking of 13th.
The Paul Berry-coached Dragons will welcome the Americans to The Gnoll in Neath on Saturday, October 17 – the same weekend the World Cup begins in Australia.
Wales will miss out on the global gathering, reduced on this occasion from 16 to ten teams, for the first time since 2008, having been beaten to the European qualifying spot by France in 2024.
Since then, their only action has been last autumn’s two-match series against Ireland, in which they won the first game 24-0, also at The Gnoll, then were beaten 36-12 in Featherstone.
They were the first matches in charge for Berry, who succeeded John Kear after previously coaching Wales at youth level.
“It’s really exciting for us to have the opportunity to play the USA on home soil,” said Berry, who recently spent a week in the Oldham camp working with and learning from their coach Alan Kilshaw.
“I’m hoping this autumn we can build on the work that we started last year and continue to give a number of our younger players more opportunities to play regular senior matches and expose them to the international stage.
“This will further accelerate their development, both individually and as a group, as we progress over the next few years.”
It will be the fourth time the countries have played with the most recent tie coming at the 2013 World Cup, when the USA won 24-16 at Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground.
Lupton came off the bench in that game, one of the former London Broncos, Hull FC and Castleford Tigers pivot’s six caps, three of which came as captain in the 2014 European Cup.
Having moved to the USA to play rugby union in 2016, Lupton, now 44, made his Tomahawks debut in 2023 and has matched his Welsh tally of caps, his sixth coming in February’s 28-20 win over Scotland in Las Vegas.
The USA are currently 22nd in the rankings, and national governing body chair Matt Goschnick said: “Wales will be an excellent test of our progress and give us a valuable benchmark as we continue our development on the international stage.”