Scotland will head to London on Friday to play their final Rugby League World Cup 2021 Qualifying match against Greece. The match was originally planned to be played in Athens, however, the match was moved to London and will be played at the New River Stadium home of London Skolars. The match will kick off at 19.30.

In game 1 Scotland beat Serbia 86-0 so go into the Greece game knowing a win will secure their spot in the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.

Two enforced changes have been made to the 19-man squad, Edinburgh born Mikey Mair receives his first senior call-up replacing Scott Plumridge who hasn’t recovered from a back injury and Niall Hall replaced Lewis Clarke who failed a late fitness test. Mair who plays for Edinburgh Eagles and was a member of their double winning squad picking up the Scottish Cup and North East RL League Titles, Hall has represented Scotland at age grade and Student level and they now join the Scotland team ahead of this crucial match with Greece.

Three other changes see Head Coach, Nathan Graham take the opportunity to reward three players for their commitment in training with Liam Faughlin, Oscar Thomas and Joe McLean replacing Adam Walker, Danny Addy and Ben Hellewell who are rested to be ready for the new Super League and Championship seasons.

Head Coach Nathan Graham said:

We have had a good 5 weeks of preparation so far leading up to these qualifiers. As a group we were very pleased with the performance against Serbia but everyone in the camp recognises that Greece will be a very tough team to crack. They have some very good personnel with the likes of Billy Magoulias from Cronulla Sharks and Peter Mamouzelos from South Sydney who is a real livewire hooker.

Graham continued:

I’m expecting a cracking game on Friday night and our lads know what is expected of them. Our goal is to win both games and we are one from one so far. I’m expecting a tough challenge from the Greek team and it’s one that our squad is looking forward to.

Captain Dale Ferguson said:

Knowing Greece are bringing a lot of players over from Australia it will be a tough test. Coming off the back of a big win against Serbia the confidence in camp is high. We proved on Saturday we can attack and defend as a team. That’s been a good platform to build on this week so we’re ready for a tough test this coming Friday.

If you can’t make it to the game the match will be live on the RFL’s ouRLeague App https://membership.rugby-league.com/login/

Scotland squad

David Scott (Batley Bulldogs), Mikey Mair* (Edinburgh Eagles), Matt Hogg (Edinburgh Eagles/Newcastle University), Ben Kavanagh (Halifax), Will Oakes (Hull KR), Davey Dixon, Kieran Moran (Keighley Cougars), Nick Glohe (Lakes United Seagulls), Callum Mclelland (Leeds Rhinos), Alex Walker (London Broncos), Dan Turland (Murwillumbah Mustangs), Sam Luckley (Newcastle Thunder), Luke Douglas (St Helens), Niall Hall (Strathmore Silverbacks), Oscar Thomas (Swinton Lions), Ryan Brierley (Toronto Wolfpack), Joe McClean (West Wales Raiders), Dale Ferguson, Liam Faughlin* (Unattached)

*= Uncapped

Photo: Neville Wright