Australia has opened its International Wheelchair Rugby Four Nations campaign in stunning style this morning, with a 47-38 win over Great Britain in the tournament opener at Sydney Olympic Park.

Ranked number two in the world, the Australians were given a torrid test early in the contest when Great Britain raced to an early lead, and remained within one goal of the lead at quarter time.

But from that point on, it was a dominant display from the home side.

The Australians converted their 10-9 quarter time lead into a 23-18 advantage at the long break, before cruising to a nine goal victory thanks to a measured second half performance.

It gave Australia the ideal start to the five-day tournament, and provides them with plenty of confidence heading into their clash later today against arch-rivals New Zealand. The match at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre begins at 4pm.

Australian Wheelchair Rugby head coach Brad Dubberley was a satisfied man following the match, but was quick to point out that his men still have a big job to do if they are to claim gold in Sunday’s final.

“We haven’t played a great deal of rugby together this year, and that showed early on in the game. It wasn’t overly impressive,” Dubberley said.

“But I thought the boys played very well after quarter time. We controlled the game well and I’m very pleased with the overall performance considering it was the first game of a big tournament.”

Australian powerhouse Ryley Batt led the scoring for Australia with 22 goals, while four-time Paralympian Steve Porter (nine goals) and newcomer Andrew Harrison (seven goals) also impressed.

Tomorrow’s action...

THURSDAY 29 APRIL                                                                                                                                
10:00    AUSTRALIA v CANADA
12:00    NEW ZEALAND v GREAT BRITAIN
16:00    GREAT BRITAIN v AUSTRALIA
18:00    NEW ZEALAND v CANADA

Still to come today...

WEDNESDAY 28 APRIL                                                                                                                             
10:30    AUS def GREAT BRITAIN 47-38
12:30    CANADA v NEW ZEALAND
16:00    NEW ZEALAND v AUSTRALIA
18:00    GREAT BRITAIN v CANADA