England Wheelchair Rugby League hero Seb Bechara has lifted the lid on the boozy celebrations that followed his team's monumental World Cup triumph.
Skipper Tom Halliwell scored a late winning try to seal victory in a tense and fiery finale against France in front of a world record 4,526-strong crowd at Manchester Central. On a potentially defining night for the growth of the sport, fervent supporters watched England seal World Cup glory for the first time in 14 years.
England avenged defeats to France in the 2013 and 2017 on a memorable evening after trailing 14-12 at the halfway stage of a thrilling encounter. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, the dramatic late finish prompted wild celebrations as the inspirational England side saw their hard work finally pay off.
Bechara, who has grown up in France since the age of nine and lost part of his right leg in a motorcycle accident a decade ago, revealed that his teammates got naked and poured drinks on each other in delirious celebrations as they toasted the victory.
“When we got back on the bus, to be honest with you, we just started screaming ‘naked bus’ and we got naked on the bus and poured beer on each other," Catalan Dragons star Bechara told BBC 5 Live’s Rugby League World Cup podcast. "It was really fun.
“We got to the hotel and all our friends and family were there. Everyone had their own way of celebrating. Tom Halliwell for example, I stayed at the hotel and at 5 o’clock in the morning, then at 6 o’clock Tom walks in.
"He had been out, he was still in his full playing kit and hadn’t got changed yet. Still in his socks even and he had England sun glasses on and he was still sweaty after the game. He was definitely smelly I can tell you that.
“I went to bed at eight or nine o’clock in the morning. I know Tom went through the whole night, went for an interview at seven, then for a coffee with James Simpson who had just got up, Tom still hadn’t slept. It was a long night.”
Captain Halliwell led out Bechara and his fellow England teammates just hours later as they were presented their trophy in front of fans after the Rugby League World Cup final between Australia and Samoa at Old Trafford.
And Bechara explained that the exposure from the result against France will prove life-changing. “It will definitely change my life," he said. "The amount of people that came here tonight, and the amount of exposure its had on free-to-air TV has been incredible. “t has given our sport such momentum and hopefully we can keep it going.”
