Ireland claimed a ‘three-peat’ in the Wheelchair Celtic Cup, defeating Scotland 70-40 and Wales 50-38 at the Oriam Performance Centre in Edinburgh. In the other clash, Wales just came out on top against the hosts 50-46 in a match decided on goal kicks, in what was acknowledged by all as the best series between the nations in the eleven stagings of the Cup.

Cian Horgan and skipper Joseph Calcott both scored five tries across the games for Ireland, player/head coach Phil Roberts acknowledging: “We are overjoyed to retain the trophy. We were pushed all the way and that’s reflected in sense of relief amongst the team.

“Scotland have improved out of sight, and every time we gave them a sniff near our tryline they came away with points. It was two really tough matches and the third game was excellent as well. Our line defence for most part was good, most of the tries we conceded where from an error or penalty where we gave the other team good starting points, but it has been another fantastic occasion.”

Teenager Matthew Turner led the way for Wales with four tries and 12 goals, head coach, Alan Caron, commenting: “I’m quite happy overall, we looked at two targets, the win over Scotland was the big one and also the margin against Ireland. We achieved both but there is still plenty to work on. Scotland have really stepped up, I was very impressed with the way they looked.”

The final match between Wales and Scotland saw both nations post nine tries, co-captain Calum Davidson crossing for four tries for the hosts. “The day has been a great success,” said Scotland head coach Martyn Gill. “We need to look at our slow starts, but the one thing I’ve seen from the group is resilience. We now need to turn our performances into results. Congratulations to Ireland on their third consecutive success.”

All the games saw world ranking points allocated, and the clash between Ireland and Wales was a rehearsal for their upcoming group game in the 2026 Wheelchair World Cup in Wollongong, Australia in October and November.