Fleming full of Welsh pride

Bradford forward Dan Fleming is looking forward to experiencing the buzz of playing for Wales in this year’s European Championship.

The 22-year-old prop forward did not get to feature in last year’s World Cup, and has been sidelined for much of 2014 with a back injury.

He will be a Bradford Bulls player next season, but, before that, he wants to get stuck into some international action in a Welsh jersey.

“You get goosebumps,” he told Love Rugby League.

“I’ve played at Wrexham before, when we played England down there, and that’s probably the biggest rivalry there is, so it’s good.

“We play Ireland in Wrexham, which is going to be a massive game.

“So hopefully the fans will turn up and it’ll be a great day.”

One potentially epic clash is Wales‘ game against France in Albi. Fleming is excited rather than daunted about the prospect of taking on the big French forward pack on their own turf.

“It doesn’t scare me, I’ve played France twice now, and you know what you going to get, they’re a big set of lads,” he said.

“It’s a forwards game when you play them, especially when you play them in France.

“But it’d be great to upset them in their own backyard, so it should be good.”

“I didn’t get the chance to play in the World Cup, which took a bit of time to get my head round.

“That’s given me some motivation. I’m looking to kick on this year. I’ve been out for most of the year with a back injury, but that doesn’t matter much in my eyes.”

Wales play Scotland at Workington as well as travelling to France. Fleming, who qualifies for Wales through a maternal grandmother from Denbigh, believes that the travel can help build better team spirit.

“That’s going to bring us closer together in my eyes,” he said.

“You spend more time with the lads that way.”