Wales name Lupton as skipper

Wales have named Peter Lupton as their captain for the forthcoming European Championship, which gets underway this Fridat evening.

The Welsh side open their campaign in Workington on Friday, with a game against Steve McCormack’s strong looking Scottish squad.

Lupton plays his club rugby for Workington, so the occasion has an extra personal dimension for him.

“I was really surprised when John Kear approached me,” he said. “But it’s an honour to captain a Wales team and I’m very honoured,” he said.

“It’s a bonus that the first game will be at Workington Town, my home club. Hopefully we can get a few Workington fans there supporting Wales and that a good few of my family and friends will come out too.

“This is a very important tournament for all of us,” Lupton adds. “We want to try and get into the Four Nations once again and hopefully we can make a good start.”

Wales coach John Kear believes that Lupton is the ideal man to lead his team into action.

“We’ve already had a couple of training sessions and Peter stood out as an experienced leader,” he said.

“It seemed a logical choice to me and it’s a bonus for him that we’re playing on his home club ground first up.

“What’s really pleased me about the two training sessions we had last week is commitment of the group as a whole.

“Some players made eight hour round trips on the day to get to them and there were no issues whatsoever.

“They worked solidly for the duration and went home. The commitment to the Wales cause has been outstanding.”