Wigan Warriors pair say inclusivity is part of the beauty of wheelchair rugby league following England's World Cup win

The pair were part of the England squad that won the World Cup, with Tom Coyd’s side beating France 28-24 at Manchester Central.

Both players believe the fact that anyone can play the sport is what makes it unique.

Rigby said: “It’s quite simple. Me and Dec (Roberts) are the best of friends.

“Can you tell me another sport where you can play at international level like this, and get a World Cup medal at the end of it?

“It’s the same for the French team, they’ve got uncles and nephews playing together. You don’t get that with other sports.

“Losing the ABs would destroy the game so I’m against it.”

Roberts, who plays alongside his dad Phil for Wigan, added: “It’s the most inclusive sport in the world and that’s one of many things that makes it what it is.“I don’t think we should be looking to lose that.”

Not everyone agrees with Rigby’s and Robert’s viewpoint, with France head coach Sylvain Crismanovich worried about the direction the sport has gone in.

He said: “My concern is there wouldn’t be any paraplegic spectator in the audience that would look at the final and decide it is a game for them to take part in. It was too physical.

“We are risking that we are developing the game for able-bodied athletes only. We are giving them the preference to be involved.

"It is not what we set out to achieve when we started. It will be interesting to see who will buy the wheelchairs.

"I don’t want disabled players involved and then when we play in front of the TV camera we have able-bodied players playing.

"Perhaps I’m responsible for France’s defeat because I opted to play three of four paraplegic players when England didn’t select any.

"A decision has been made to prioritise the show and the spectacle rather than the athletes involved.”

England’s Seb Bechara and Tom Coyd both reacted to Crismanovich’s comments in their press conference after the game.

Bechara said: “It sounds like they are making a fuss because they lost the World Cup.

"They had the same amount of able-bodied players as us. They played two for the full game, so did we, it has been the rules for forever.

"I don’t think it has played a major part in making it dangerous for any disabled players.

"It’s the most inclusive sport in the world and it is brilliant how it is.”

Coyd added: “There has been large parts of this World Cup where we had no able-bodied players on the pitch, equally there are time where we’ve had two.

"I don’t know why you would want to change the product.

"It’s a sport where it is safe at participation level, but I don’t know why you would want to take away what has just happened at this World Cup. We need to keep driving.”