​Dual-code star Ffion Lewis will return to competitive rugby league for Wales after five years when they host Canada at The Gnoll on Sunday 19 July. The former Wales captain featured in the nation’s inaugural international against England in June 2021 before switching to union. She was among the first 12 players to secure professional union contracts with Wales in January 2022 but departed the Welsh Rugby Union programme in 2025 after learning her contract would not be renewed.
Lewis currently plays for London Broncos Women in the RFL Women’s Championship and earned Player of the Match honours in their 58–10 victory over Hull FC last month. The 30-year-old admits she is “really excited” to be back in the rugby league fold. “Obviously it’s been a few years, but rugby league has always given me an amazing opportunity to play and represent Wales. I’m just really excited to get back out there.”
She added: “I signed for Broncos and have played the last few weeks for them, but I’ve had to re-learn the game after being in full-time union for a few years. I’m really looking forward to the weekend and to the World Cup as well.”
Wales launched their women’s rugby league team in 2019 with the aim of reaching the 2021 Women’s Rugby League World Cup. They will make their World Cup debut in October after securing qualification with wins over Ireland and the Netherlands in 2024. If Lewis is selected for the World Cup squad, she would become the first Welsh woman to compete at a World Cup in both codes—a distinction she’s keen to claim. “That would be a class thing to say that I’ve been able to do,” Lewis told BBC Sport Wales.
She reflected on missing out on the union World Cup last year due to injury, calling it a “big goal” that remained unfulfilled. “But that’s elite sport and paths change,” she said. “It was always my plan to try to make this World Cup regardless of what happened with union because I’ve always loved playing rugby league. The position I’m in now would be awesome, but I haven’t actually represented Wales since I tore my ACL in April 2023.”
Lewis’s return comes as head coach Tom Brindle confirmed the door remains open for a possible Wales return to rugby union. “We started the journey and Ffion was part of the first training sessions we put together,” Brindle said. “She’s a competitor through and through and she’s taken that and enjoyed success in her career. We wished her well and were proud that she became a full-time athlete because we never wanted to stop people’s dreams.”
In recent years, Lewis’s career has been hampered by a serious knee injury and the effects of endometriosis, while she built a comeback alongside work as a teacher. She says her lows have given her a new appreciation for the game and a renewed determination to press forward with both her rugby league ambitions and her coaching and teaching roles.