Jamaica Rugby League head coach Romeo Monteith was full of praise for the Reggae Warriors after their sensational rally to draw 30-30 with Scotland in their international match at the Millennium Stadium in Featherstone on Sunday.

The Reggae Warriors, trailing by 20 points, scored six tries to five and came back from 30-10 down two minutes into the second half, superbly led by Ashton Golding - starting at loose forward for the first time - and Izaac Farrell on debut.

“Today we created history again, everyone should be proud of this team. We showed great character to come back from 20 points down and get a result against the ninth-ranked team in the world,” Monteith told Sportsmax. TV.

“It was a game of two halves; the last 40 we really showed the toughness and resilience we are made of. We will continue to build towards the World Cup in 2022, and this was the perfect boost for the programme.”

Scotland was excellently served by St Helens-bound James Bell, Barrow’s Charlie Emslie posting a try double for them on his international bow.

Jamaica raced into a 10-0 lead with tries from Jymel Coleman and an 85-metre pick up by Ben Jones-Bishop after Sam Luckley had lost the ball, the Bravehearts then holding out Golding and Izaac Farrell and preventing Mo Agoro crossing in the corner with some outstanding goal-line defence.

Keenan Tomlinson was sin-binned in the 25th minute as Jamaica’s discipline let them down and Scotland hit back with Emslie’s first – from a fine pass by Bell – and further tries from Ross Oakes on the overlap, Ben Hellewell diving on a loose ball and Dale Ferguson, all converted by Lachlan Walmsley on his first international start – to lead 24-10 at the break.

Emslie’s second from a spilt high kick seemed to have the Scots firmly in charge, but Jones-Bishop grabbed his brace, Joe Brown went in on the hour and Jordan Andrade crashed to the posts with 15 minutes to go.

Ferguson was sent to the bin with five to go for a high tackle and, switching play on the last, Jamaica’s Alex Brown powered into the corner to level, Izzac Farrell’s conversion attempt just falling short.

In the final minute, Ryan Brierley’s drop goal attempt for the Scots was touched in flight and the Reggae Warriors held on from the resulting dropout.

“It was a tough game, Scotland played really well. The momentum shifted in the middle of the game when we had Keenen Tomlinson sent off. We started fantastic and stuck to what we wanted to do early on, but our kick finishes were a bit poor,” said Reggae Warriors coach Jermaine Coleman.

“We came out in the second half and showed commitment and togetherness that will be the main thing to get us through the World Cup. Our talk at halftime-e focused on what can control such as our tackles, our finished and our energy. Ultimately that showed in the second game and on the back of that we nearly won the game, we certainly can take a moral victory from the draw.”

Monteith said the team had to overcome a lot and the victory was a positive catalyst heading into 2022. “The result does a lot for our confidence, it reinforces our belief that we are on the right track despite the many challenges we face. We had two of our staff members quit just before we played these games, we had 8 players unavailable due to one thing or another, we couldn’t get domestic players or staff to England due to Covid, so to face all these challenges, and end the year with a tie against Scotland, we can build on this moment,” he said.

The Reggae Warriors are currently ranked 20th in the world and defeated Canada and USA in 2018 to become the first Caribbean nation to qualify for a Rugby League World Cup. The postponed 2021 Rugby League World Cup takes in 2022 from October 15 to November 19.

Jamaica director of rugby/head coach Romeo Monteith and lead coach Jermaine Coleman have named their 19-man squad for Sunday’s Test match with Scotland, at the Millennium Stadium in Featherstone.

The Reggae Warriors are looking to bounce back from last Friday’s defeat at the hands of England Knights, with international ranking points up for grabs against the Bravehearts as both nations look to measure their progress 12 months out from the Rugby League World Cup.

 Super League stars Ashton Golding and Michael Lawrence are once more included, whilst Sheffield Eagle Izaac Farrell and Bradford Bulls’ David Foggin-Johnston are also named and could possibly debut, although Jordan Turner is not available.

 “We are excited to face Scotland for the first time, they are ninth-ranked in the world, a strong team with a host of Super League players and should give us another stern test. We expect an exciting brand of open rugby from both teams which should be a treat for the fans. We picked up a few knocks in our game against England Knights, but these two weeks with consecutive matches against strong nations is exactly what we need to give us an idea of what it will be like in the World Cup,” said Monteith.

“These games are also important in introducing the team to more fans in the UK with the invitation for them to adopt us as their second favourite side for the tournament. It’s not lost on us either that we are inspiring young Jamaicans and West Indians in the UK to have a go at the sport, and this can only help to build our profile and possibilities for the future.”

 JAMAICA SQUAD:

 Greg Johnson (Batley Bulldogs), David Foggin-Johnston (Bradford), Jon Magrin, Keenen Tomlinson (Dewsbury Rams), Danny Bravo, Ross Peltier, (Doncaster), James Woodburn-Hall (Halifax Panthers) Ashton Golding, Michael Lawrence (Huddersfield Giants), Aaron Jones-Bishop, Alex Brown, Jordan Andrade, Jy-mel Coleman (Hunslet), Mo Agoro, (Keighley Cougars), Jacob Ogden (London Broncos) Izaac Farrell, Joel Farrell (Sheffield Eagles), Joe Brown (Workington Town), Ben Jones-Bishop (York City Knights)

In their second ever clash with England Knights, the Reggae Warriors fell to a heavy 4–56-points defeat at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle Stadium in Castleford. The match featured as Jordan Turner’s Testimonial and saw over two thousand fans in attendance on a cold Castleford evening.

 The Reggae Warriors started positively, going directly up the middle and traded set for set with England with Props Michael Lawrence and Ross Peltier showing plenty of steam. There was the opportunity to go for two points after a late hit on scrum-half Jy-mel Coleman resulted in a penalty. However, the Warriors choose to run the ball and gave up the easy two-point option.

Peltier barged over the try line on the 13-minute mark but was held up by the defence. Unfortunately, in the same attacking set, Jordan Turner’s attempted pass to Jacob Ogden was intercepted by Jack Broadbent and the speedy English centre raced 95 metres to open the scoring. Will Pryce converted as Jamaica trailed 0-6.

England got on the score sheet minutes later when Danny Walker scurried over the try line from dummy-half.  Pryce again booted the extra two.

Jamaica made it 4-12 when another raid on the left edge saw Ben Jones-Bishop bully his way over the line. Coleman missed the conversion and that was the closest the Warriors would get to England for the rest of the evening.

England’s pace across the field, brilliant ruck defence and overall ruthlessness when they had scoring chances saw them rack up an additional 8 tries as the game unfolded. Jamaica would have felt hopeful at halftime when the score was 4-24, but England made sure there was no way back for the Warriors.

“I think we started the game well, but the interception changed everything. We were a bit poor around the ruck and conceded too many tries there. We probably lacked a bit of effort in the second half too and kind of succumbed to the game,” said Jermaine Coleman, the Warriors head coach.

“But it was good for us to blow the cobwebs off as a couple of our boys haven’t played for five or six weeks now. It was probably difficult to keep in shape the right way to play against the best young players England have to offer. We have Scotland next week and we have the opportunity to put some things right.”

Meanwhile, Director of Rugby and Head Coach Romeo Monteith the game was a good test to show where the team needs to improve.

“England put in a good performance, and nothing less was expected from a squad with 17 young full-time players eager to prove they can step up to the full senior team,” he said.

“We only had three full-timers and 17-part timers, we all saw the gulf in fitness after 10 minutes and that’s the nature of the sport. We obviously aren’t pleased with the scoreline, but as a programme, we cannot be afraid to face the best players and nations in the world when given the opportunity. It was great being able to support Jordan Turner’s testimonial and for us to measure ourselves.

“Next week, our full ranking international against Scotland will be another big test, they have 10 Super League players, and we will have to lift ourselves on and off the field to get the job done.

 These games provide invaluable yardsticks on where we are and what we need to do to get better. We didn’t prepare and qualify for a World Cup by playing easy teams. Similarly, we are playing tough teams as we prepare for our World Cup debut and hope that will result in us being competitive and springing a surprise or two.”

Jamaica director of rugby and senior head coach Romeo Monteith and lead coach Jermaine Coleman have named their 21-man squad for Friday’s representative clash with England Knights at Castleford’s Mend-A-Hose Jungle. The match is also being played for Reggae Warrior and Tiger Jordan Turner’s testimonial.

With the 2021 Rugby League World Cup being postponed until late next year, Jamaica’s Reggae Warriors are set to play two internationals next month as the Jamaica Rugby League (JRL) intends to make the extra year count.