Walker hails standout performance as GB beat world champions Australia

Captain Gavin Walker hailed “one of the best performances in recent memory” as ParalympicsGB’s wheelchair rugby squad defeated world champions Australia 58-55 in the first match of their Paralympic title defence.

The Tokyo gold medallists matched the side ranked no.1 in the world try-for-try but were never to build more than a one-try advantage in the first half.

Late in each of the third and fourth quarters, they stretched their lead and capitalised on Australia’s errors to build the biggest lead of the game and take a defiant win.

Great Britain were without five of the players that won gold in Japan three years ago, with Walker now sole skipper after former co-captain Chris Ryan retired.

“I think it is one of the better GB performances we’ve had in recent history,” the 40-year-old from Rotherham said.

“The changes we have had to make, the developments we have made since Tokyo, it has been like a ground-up process.

“We are very impressed with our performance, but we feel as though that is how GB play now, something that we are starting to build confidence in.

“We don’t like to go into games too confident or over-confident. We just have the mindset that each game is almost a final and we take each game as it comes.”

Aaron Phipps, one of seven returning gold medallists, had the honour of scoring Paris 2024’s first try as ‘the Ashes on wheels’ kicked off the wheelchair rugby competition at the Paralympic Games.

Wheelchair rugby is a game of power and speed but also of tactical nous and ParalympicsGB used all of that to run down the clock at the end of the first quarter to take a one-try lead into the first break.

GB conceded the first turnover of the game as Australia took the lead for the first time but Stuart Robinson remained calm, not panicking under heavy defence before hoovering up a loose ball to see the two-time champions’ advantage almost immediately wiped out.

In the closing minutes of the third quarter, a defensive foul and a ball lost out of bounds handed GB the advantage and they powered into a three-try lead to head into the final eight minutes 43-40 ahead.

With just 1 minute 46 seconds left on the clock and only one try in it, Australia turned the ball over as Robinson was denied right on the tryline.

But there was no worry for the defending champions as Phipps stole the ball as it was played from the sideline and Robinson easily wheeled over.

Great Britain then made a turnover of their own as Ryley Batt was forced out of bounds to see the reigning gold medallists move to the biggest lead of the game and power to a stirring victory.

They play their second group game against Denmark at 10:30 BST tomorrow (Friday).