Gutted Craig Kopczak today revealed his anguish at missing out on his World Cup dream.

The young Bulls prop looked set for a surprise place at next year's jamboree after winning a call-up with Wales.

Having stars like Iestyn Harris and Lee Briers already on board, the Welsh seemed destined for Australia when needing only to beat Scotland by eight points or more.

But their winning margin fell short in Glasgow and they then blew their second stab at qualification by suffering a shock 50-26 loss against Lebanon in the repechage semi-final.

Hopes of appearing at the spectacle are now long gone and for Kopczak the past month has proved a true rollercoaster ride.

"I loved the actual experience of playing international rugby but I'm just gutted that we didn't get to the World Cup," he admitted, after getting straight back into the thick of it at Bulls' pre-season training.

"It really hurt after that Lebanon game and it wasn't nice. We were unlucky against Scotland, as we won the match but knew we'd not done enough to qualify.

"That was a weird feeling itself and it was a very strange dressing room afterwards. It was really disappointing but we had another chance against Lebanon and the first half against them was excellent. We started off really strong but in the second they came out like a different team entirely. We expected Lebanon to have a proper dig in the first ten minutes but never thought they'd come at us all guns blazing like that.

"Knowing we were out was awful. We had all that hurt we'd had against Scotland all over again."

Kopczak had sacrificed much of his off-season to aid the Welsh cause, along with Bulls colleagues Dave Halley and Matt James.

Ultimately it has proved a fruitless crusade but the 21-year-old insisted: "It has been an experience and I'm glad I did it.

"I made my debut in the friendly against Papua New Guinea before the two qualifiers and that was great. We beat them by 50 points and there was a real team spirit and work effort.

"I've come up against different types of opponents to what I'm used to playing against them and Lebanon and it's all good.

"If you'd have told me six months ago I'd have played three games for Wales by the end of the year, I just wouldn't have believed you. Hopefully now I can kick on with Bradford."

Kopczak, who qualifies due to a Welsh grandparent from Flint, will continue his association with Martin Hall's side and could face England in a friendly ahead of the World Cup next summer.

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