Amberley Ruck Will Miss Brother's Wedding to Play for Wales at Rugby League World Cup

Amberley Ruck will miss her brother Harry's wedding because she is playing for Wales in the Rugby League World Cup in Australia. The BBC reports that she will watch the ceremony by FaceTime, a video call, as it takes place at about 22:00 Australian time on the Saturday.

Ruck, 32, is a stand-off, the playmaker who links the forwards with the backs and decides where the attack goes next. She described playing at the tournament as the pinnacle of her career so far. Her path into the sport has been unusual. She switched from rugby union to rugby league during the Covid pandemic, and she plays club rugby for Cardiff Demons. She was also part of the Wales side that played England in their first Test in 2021.

Wales have not had an easy start. They lost their opening game 70-6 to England in Perth. Head coach Tom Brindle has made four changes to the squad for the next match, and Ruck is one of them. She comes in at stand-off, replacing Ffion Lewis. Zoe Heeley moves from centre to the wing, and Jade Mullen comes into the centres.

Wales play Samoa on Friday at CommBank Stadium in Sydney. On Sunday they face Australia, the reigning champions. The BBC lists Wales ninth in the world rankings and Samoa fifth. Samoa lost their own opener 40-0 to Australia, also in Sydney.

Ruck has a background in the game beyond the 13-a-side code. She represented Wales at the Touch Rugby World Cups in 2015 and 2019. Touch is a non-contact version of rugby, with no tackling. Her first Wales touch cap came against Samoa in Australia in 2015, which gives this weekend a certain symmetry. She missed the 2024 Touch Rugby World Cup through injury and worked as a coach instead.

Rugby league is played with six tackles to each set of possession. After the sixth, the ball changes hands. That is why stand-offs spend so much time reading the tackle count and choosing when to kick. Wales will need to take their chances in the moments when the ball is theirs.

Ruck's family will be watching from home, and she will be watching from Australia. Her brother's wedding goes ahead without her in the room, and her Wales team goes into a difficult stretch of games with a new half-back pairing to build around. Wales's squad is led by Wigan Warriors' Bethan Dainton, with Cardiff Demons players Frances Layton, Zoe Heeley and Sioned Young also named.