Toby Burton-Carter is looking forward to a big season with both Wigan Warriors and Ireland, as he hopes to help his sides to four trophies.

WIGAN will be looking to improve on last season, where they failed to reach the Super League and Challenge Cup finals, whilst Ireland will be aiming to retain the Celtic Cup then make a challenge for the World Cup in Australia.

But Toby Burton-Carter’s first competitive duties will be with the UK Armed Forces as they take on Wales at Wrexham University on Saturday, 14th March.

The 48-year-old, who served for over 12 years in the British Army, played for the UK Armed Forces in the last match against the Welsh, scoring their only try of the second half, but it wasn’t enough as the Welsh won 24-22.

“It was tight last time,” Burton-Carter admits. “Wales just about clinched it.

“I think this return leg will be a different type of match. I know Wales are training really hard, but I think that the longer that the Armed Forces team trained together and played together that we’ll be able to field a relatively strong side and hopefully, fingers crossed, this will be a competitive match.”

The day in Wrexham opens with a development game between the two sides at 1pm before the main sides fight it out, and Burton-Carter is pleased that more players can have a chance to shine.

“It’s always important to get people matched and play as many matches as possible,” he said. “And it’s always important to be able to pull on the nation’s jersey.

“And even if you’re in the A side or the senior side, it gives you a sense of belonging and pride to that second nation.”

The UK Armed Forces then go onto Australia to take on the Australian Armed Forces on Anzac Day, but Burton-Carter will be remaining in England, for now anyway.

“My focus is on the Super League season and the upcoming Celtic Cup,” he said. “Last year with Wigan, we didn’t have our best season. We were going through a transition with a couple of new players and the season was relatively short as well in comparison to previous years. I don’t think that we performed. Potentially we could have done, but moving forward, obviously we’re looking at progressing and becoming stronger and, and challenging for, if not the top place, at least in the top three.”

There has been a major link between Wigan and Ireland recently thanks to Phil Roberts, who is a player-coach with both organisations. Players have been brought over from Ireland to play for Wigan with Mel Griffith and Oran Spain particularly shining.

“We’ve a lot of Irish internationals in this squad, which obviously makes it more competitive to get into the starting five,” Burton-Carter admits.

“I think that the more frequently we play together and train together is massively beneficial, and I think one of the most important things is the fact that yes, we do have an international coach who plays with us. It can only be a positive thing for us.

“We take on North Wales Crusaders in our first match, which is in the Challenge Cup. They’ll have Welsh internationals and we may have some Welsh players in our side too which will make it a fun match. But to be fair, it will be our first really competitive match of the year, and I think that we just need to set our benchmark and move forward from there.”

Burton-Carter has won 18 caps over the last five years since making his Ireland debut in 2021, playing in the last World Cup and helping them to two Celtic Cup wins.

But this season will be the biggest yet for Ireland with preparations already underway as they look to defend their trophy in Scotland in May.

“We’ve started to have our Interpros competition,” he said. “These are round robin matches between teams from the four provinces of Ireland – Leinster, Munster, Connaught and Ulster.

“We’re developing more homegrown talent and which making the competition for places even harder.

“But it’s really important for Ireland to progress and we’ve done a lot of work in the last three years since the World Cup.

“Rugby league isn’t the most popular sport in Ireland. It’s more rugby union. I play for Leinster, which is where my connection is, and we have a strong side which is really important to me.

“The development at grassroots level in Ireland has seen a massive impact. It’s really popular and people say at first that it looks a little bit rough, but once they get involved in it, there isn’t anything quite like the Irish spirit to get involved in sport. They embrace it and it’s a whole cultural thing over there, which is really fantastic. It’s part of my culture and I enjoy that, especially with going over to Ireland, and we train in Ireland, because we’re the Irish team and we just make sure that ultimately, we’re doing the best we possibly can for the sport. I’m 48 and I’m not going to be playing forever. We’ve younger players coming on board and I’m trying to impart my knowledge and bring them on as well. That’s an important element of my role too.”

Following the Celtic Cup, it’ll be all systems go for the World Cup, which is all being held at the WIN Entertainment Centre in Wollongong, just south of Sydney, with Ireland, just like in 2022, playing in the opening match in the tournament.

“The great thing for this World Cup is that all the wheelchair teams will be based in the same place,” Burton-Carter says.

“I think that’s really important because there’s no separation and we all have lots of different friends in different teams as well. It’s important to share in these types of events because we want to watch what the other teams are doing, and if we’re separate, we can’t.

“In 2022, we were the in first match against Spain which didn’t go our way. This year, we’re looking at that that first match against USA that’s going to be really important. We want to set a benchmark of what we’re capable of doing, play good rugby and be exciting for people to watch. We then face Wales, then England, so every match will be big in this World Cup. For me personally, I just want to give out the best performance I possibly can.”

First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 518 (March 2026)