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With completion in 2025, England go to one ash series against Australia As a big underdog, he hopes to make history but understands the huge challenge ahead.
a sentence that can talk easily About men’s cricket team Soon to be flying Down Under but that actually only applies to men Rugby League lateral facing even bigger work After waiting for 22 years.
Not since 2003, not since Jonny Wilkinson the same year breaking wallaby hearts Rugby league, with its dramatic drop goals in other codes of rugby, has seen competition in the Ashes. This three-match series is starting wembley on saturday, It is quite late.
In the intervening decades, the Great Britain side has morphed into its three constituent parts, meaning England will take charge of the Ashes in 2025, but Australia’s dominance of the rugby league landscape has not diminished – in fact, it has only increased.
Sure, they lost surprisingly. 2008 world cup final For New Zealand, it is the only time the Kangaroos have not lifted the trophy in 10 editions since 1972, but it was a rare defeat and they have lost just one international match since the Covid pandemic.
Meanwhile, Australia’s domestic league the NRL has become a global giant and the gold-standard for rugby league around the world, while their State of Origin series is the pinnacle of the club game.
Before a 22-year hiatus – where the Tri-Nation, then the Four Nations, then a blank void failed to satisfactorily fill the GB-vs-Australia-sized hole in the calendar – the Ashes had become Australia’s domain.
They set a record of 13 consecutive series wins between 1973 and 2003 (albeit only the majority by a 2–1 score), meaning that 1970 is Great Britain’s most recent win and 1959 was the last British series win on home soil. However, even during the losing streak, memories were made – who can forget Jonathan Davies’ sensational Wembley try or Adrian Morley’s red card after just 12 seconds of the 2003 game.
GB’s most recent win in an individual match against the Kangaroos was during the Tri-Nations in Sydney in 2006, while the England brand have lost 13 consecutive matches to the men in green and gold since an Andy Farrell and Jason Robinson-inspired win in the opening match of the 1995 World Cup.
All this is to say that it would be a huge success if sean wayneThe current England team could only win one of the three upcoming Test matches at Wembley, Everton’s brand new Hill Dickinson Stadium and Headingley.
Not that the 61-year-old coach will be intimidated in the face of overwhelming odds.
“It would be good to keep it to the doubters,” Wynne said during the Ashes launch at Wembley earlier this week. “I’m not on social media, but I know a lot of things have been said. They’ll be physical with us and we’ll be physical with them. It’s going to be a big blast and the best team will come out in the end. I hope it’s us.”
Downfall took a job in England in February 2020 and immediately penciled a return to the Ashes that summer on their calendar, but that disappeared when Covid ravaged the world.
As the NRL and State of Origin grew in popularity, international rugby league was on the decline (no pun intended) and had been for some time. But the delayed 2021 World Cup, eventually played in autumn 2022, showed green shoots of recovery.
Attendances were good across England and the host team were fantastic 27-26, gold point loss to Samoa While the semi-final was an all-time classic match that was disastrous for Wynne and company, it was fantastic for the game that for the first time since 1968, there was a team other than Australia, New Zealand or England/Great Britain in the final.
A huge crowd of 67,502 turned out at Old Trafford for the final as the Kangaroos Somewhat inevitably won 30-10 But later the players appreciated the atmosphere of the entire tournament and talked about their love of wearing the green and gold jersey again.
The emergence of Samoa, Fiji and Tonga as competitive, standalone entities over the past few years led to the creation of the Rugby League Pacific Championship in 2019, giving the islands regular opportunities to face Australia and New Zealand, and the tournament has only strengthened following the World Cup.
To their credit, International Rugby League (IRL) created a seven-year international calendar starting in 2023 as part of a long-term strategy to aid the growth of the global game and this long-awaited Ashes return is the cornerstone of that.
A competitive series would do wonders for the game and seems likely since England have bounced back from World Cup defeats with consistently unbeaten performances, including impressive series wins over Tonga in 2023 and Samoa in 2024, as well as two defeats to France.
Conspicuously absent from that list of fixtures are giants Australia and New Zealand, but now the Kangaroos are coming to town for the first match between the teams since the 2017 World Cup final, which the hosts won 6-0 in a tense encounter in Brisbane.
Australia are likely to have too much quality for their Ashes foes, but England will be further boosted by shock wins at St Helens and Wigan Warriors over NRL dynasty Penrith Panthers in the last two World Club Challenges.
So the home crowd will also make noise. No doubt helped by the always attractive prospect of an Ashes series, regardless of the game, ticket sales have been really strong.
Tickets for the third Test at the 19,700-capacity Headingley predictably sold out during the pre-sale period, but the Rugby Football League (RFL) must have been pleased to see their gamble on moving to Hill Dickinson Stadium pay off so spectacularly, as Everton’s new 52,769-capacity ground sold out within hours of going on general sale.
Wembley starts on Saturday and ticket sales there were a little slow, but the influx of London fans has helped numbers rise steadily over the past few months. The crowd at the 57,034 Rugby League Ashes is the largest in UK history and as of Thursday of Gameweek, that number had exceeded tickets sold for the 2025 opener.
The record attendance of 67,545 against New Zealand at Wembley in the 2013 World Cup semi-final, for an England rugby league international, will probably stand but an attendance of 60,000 fans in London on Saturday now looks almost certain. Selling over 130,000 tickets for the entire series is a fantastic return.
Despite their status as heavy favourites, the Kangaroos are taking this Ashes seriously, with former captain James Tedesco the only front-line player not traveling to the UK – instead he has opted to attend his brother’s wedding.
In truth, Tedesco might not have started anyway, given the presence of superstar full back Reece Walsh – whom Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’Landis, in a very sweet attempt at a modern cultural context, has dubbed the ‘Justin Bieber of rugby league’ due to his star quality and 640k Instagram followers.
Australia made a bit of a surprise coaching switch over the summer, with rugby league icon Mal Meninga resigning as coach of the Perth Bears, an expansion franchise set to join the NRL in 2027.
Kevin Walters stepped down just a year before the home World Cup, although it is generally thought that the Ashes will act as an audition of sorts and Meninga could be quietly reinstated into the role ahead of the World Cup if things do not go well.
“When I got the job, I phoned some of the players because there’s a buzz in Australia about international rugby and where it sits in the calendar,” Walters said. “They were very excited about all this.
“We’ve really left a generation of English and Australian players in these types of games and series; this could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these players and staff. It’s a unique experience, and if you’re in the world of rugby league, this is where you want to be.”
The Ashes are back and international rugby league looks to be on track once again. Let the rivalry begin.