Two passages of play deep into the second half of France’s rout of Wales encapsulated both the ferocity of a wheelchair rugby league game and the sporting nature it is played in.

First, with her team trailing by 148 points to six, Wales’ Jodie Ward-Boyd – who is from Leeds and plays for the Rhinos - hit the chair of advancing winger Florian Guttadaro so hard that the impact flipped him onto his side.

Moments later, down the same right flank in front of the main stand, Mostefa Abassi scored a fine individual try, batting the ball over the last defender and wheeling down the sideline as the ball bounced obediently for him to dot down. The first to congratulate him with an admiring handshake was Stuart Williams, Wales’ captain, who despite being on the receiving end of an absolute trouncing was still able to appreciate his sport played at the highest level.

"I just wanted to say bravo to a player who had done something phenomenal,” said Williams.

Wales' Stuart Williams in action against France in the Rugby League World Cup 2021 - Wheelchair at EIS Sheffield, Sheffield, England - (Picture: John Clifton/SWpix.com)

"It was a bit like that famous Sonny Bill Williams try. There was not point getting rowdy or angry, we’d fought hard.”

France are the two-time defending world champions and on a two-wheeled collision course with hosts England, who got their tournament off to a winning start at London’s Copper Box on Thursday night.

"They are the favourites,” insisted French coach Sylvain Crismanovich, who revealed his team had played only twice on a stage as grand, and with stands as full as they were at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, twice in the history of their sport.

Get used to this then, for France, Wales, USA and Scotland - the latter pair contesting a much more even second part of Friday’s double-header – are back at the EIS on Monday and Thursday to complete Pool B.

France's Julien Penella is tackled by Wales' Leeds Rhinos player Jodie Boyd-Ward in the RLWC2021 match at the EIS (Picture: John Clifton/SWpix.com)

If you’ve seen any of the wheelchair rugby league on the BBC and are considering coming down, do so, the intensity and skill on show is even more impressive from the stands. And for the players involved, this World Cup is a game changer.

"This is a completely different stratosphere to anything that’s gone before,” continued Williams, who plays his club wheelchair rugby for North Wales Crusaders.

“I was part of the players’ working group ahead of the tournament and they’ve done so much to make our event like the men’s and women’s.

"It’s not fully there but it was never going to be, that’s not how progress works.

"Going forward this platform is huge for our sport.”

Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup fuses ferocity and sportsmanship as France beat Wales in Sheffield