U16 FOUR NATIONS FIXTURES CONFIRMED

Wales begin their defence of the U16s Four Nations with a trip to Dubin on Saturday 23 May. All the matches are paired with the Student Four Nations tournament.

“Our Wales U16s team have been working hard and will be aiming to retain their fourth consecutive title,” said Wales RL performance director, Clive Griffiths. “We will be looking to maximise home advantage with two home games in this year's competition and we look forward to welcoming big crowds to the games.”

The second round of games take place on Saturday 6 June as England welcome Ireland to Halton Farnworth Hornets while Scotland make the long trip to Merthyr Tydfil the following day.
England Lions programme manager, Alan Davidson, noted: “We will once again take part in the U16s competition with the England Lions team which means that no scholarship or academy players will be eligible for the side, giving those young men outside of the professional game the opportunity to showcase their talents and represent their country.”
The action concludes on Saturday 20 June as Ireland visit Hawick to face Scotland, and Wales welcome England to The Gnoll in Neath for what has previously been the deciding game.

“We're very pleased that our Pathways Programme has again produced more Ireland based players competing than ever before in our U16’s squad, all are looking forward to impressing,” said IRL chair Jim Reynolds.

Barry McGuffog, Scotland RL operations director, added: “The number of Scotland-based players at U16s continues to grow year on year, we’re hoping to progress that into some form of domestic fixtures in 2026.”

England, Scotland and Wales also combining to stage U17s matches, although these will be considered friendlies and not part of a formal competition, making their clashes tripleheaders.

Pairing the competitions also highlights the youth international pathway in place which, from 2027, will also include the biennial U18s Four Nations games. 

2026 U16 Four Nations Fixtures
Scotland v England – Hawick RFC – Saturday 16 May, 11am
Ireland v Wales – Garda Westmanstown RFC, Saturday 23 May, 1pm
England v Ireland – Halton Farnworth Hornets, Saturday 6 June, 11am
Wales v Scotland – Merthyr RFC, Sunday 7 June, 12pm
Scotland v Ireland – Hawick RFC, Saturday 20 June, 12.30pm
Wales v England – The Gnoll, Saturday 20 June, 11am

2026 U17 Friendly Fixtures
Scotland v England – Hawick RFC – Saturday 16 May, 1pm
Wales v Scotland – Merthyr RFC, Sunday 7 June, 2.30pm
Wales v England – The Gnoll, Saturday 20 June, 2.30pm