In 2017, the Toronto Wolfpack didn’t look tested in many of its games. On Sunday, they will receive a challenging welcome to the next level.

The second-year English Rugby League team begins play in the Betfred Championship against the Leigh Centurions (10 a.m., Game TV, cbcsports.ca), a side that completed in the top-tier Super League in 2017.

“They’re in really good shape and are a very good squad, better than the squad they had last year,” Wolfpack coach Paul Rowley said on the team’s website. “They’re a Super League club in all but where they are playing this year.”

“We’re going to a good ground and playing before a good crowd.”

The Wolfpack introduced Toronto sports fans to a sport which had not been showcased on a wide scale in Canada previously. In addition, the team and fans produced a fun experience at Lamport Stadium and crowds ranged from about 6,000 in May to over 8,000 by September. It won the League 1 title with a 20-1-1 record.

With the move up in class, the Wolfpack not only face tougher opposition week to week but other challenges as well. The team will play all 11 of its regularly-scheduled road games, plus their April 28 game at a neutral site, operating out of its English base in Manchester.

After hosting the Swinton Lions in its May 5 home opener, the team goes back overseas for two more neutral-site matches on May 19 and 26 before returning home for the final nine matches in its regular-season schedule.

The team that will take the field at Leigh Sports Village on Sunday will look slightly familiar. 14 of the 27 players were on the 2017 squad including fan favourites Liam Kay, Jonny Pownall, Bob Beswick, Blake Wallace, Ryan Brierley, Quentin Laulu Togaga’e, and Jack Bussey.

New faces include Fijian international Ashton Sims, who along with Cory Paterson and new team captain Josh McCrone, have experience in Australia’s National Rugby League. Joe Westerman and Jack Buchanan are among the new English signings.

The club tuned up for the season last weekend, posting a 34-0 win over the Bradford Bulls, who will play in League 1 this season.

CANADA LOSES

Meanwhile Canada’s men’s rugby team failed in its second attempt to qualify for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, losing the second leg of its two-match series with Uruguay 32-31 in Montevideo on Saturday. Canada will have one more shot in a four-team repechage tournament to take place in November.