Wolfhounds hungry for victory in Euro opener

Rugby League: Ireland will be cast in the familiar role of underdogs as they launch their European Championship campaign against France in Dublin today, but this time they are not without hope.

The Wolfhounds were pitted against big guns Australia, England and Fiji in the 2013 World Cup and, unsurprisingly, lost all three group matches.

“We learned a lot from that,” Ireland coach Mark Aston said. “When you play against Australia and England, there is always that little bit of doubt about whether we’d be able to compete. But we will go into every game this year thinking we can win, and that’s important.”