England’s long, long wait for Ashes glory goes on as Australia depart these shores with another convincing 3-0 series whitewash under their belts.
THREE games, three losses, and just two tries scored.
The numbers don’t lie, and, on the face of it, those are extremely disappointing statistics and ones which certainly need to be worked on if England are going to do any damage whatsoever in the World Cup next year.
But, reflecting on the final Test at Headingley, head coach Shaun Wane insisted: “We can easily fix the way we attack – that’s not a big worry for us.”
The ‘numbers don’t lie’ saying can also be true of those that decided to head to London, Everton and Leeds for all three Ashes Tests.
The buzz going into the Ashes Series was palpable; over two decades had gone by since an Australia side had toured the UK – 2003 was the date – and there is a lot of hope that it won’t be another 22 years until the next one.
Everton’s Hill Dickinson and Leeds’ AMT Headingley were both sold-out, with just over 52,000 and 19,000 spectators filling both venues respectively.
Add into the mix a 60,000 crowd at Wembley and the interest for international rugby league is certainly there – and that needs to be taken advantage of.
That was something that captain George Williams reflected upon at the end of the series at Headingley, praising the turnout of over 130,000 fans across the three games.
“The fans have been brilliant,” Williams said. “We can’t knock the fans over the whole series.
“Wembley was brilliant, Everton was rocking and the same again at Headingley.
“So it was disappointing that we couldn’t get the fans a win, they’ve been so good and that shows the demand for international rugby.”
Australia had not lost an Ashes Series since 1970 and, on this evidence, they will continue to extend that piece of history well into the future.
The NRL is the greatest competition in rugby league – fact. But, the way in which Australia demolished England perhaps took some people by surprise, with Kevin Walters’ men appearing to not even get out of first gear on their tour of the UK.
Much of the heat before Australia had even landed had been on England boss Wane’s selection decisions, or rather non-selection of the recently-crowned Man of Steel Jake Connor.
Connor had enjoyed the season of his life under Leeds Rhinos head coach Brad Arthur, registering 30 try assists and playing a key role in the West Yorkshire club’s fourth-placed finish.
It seemed as though Connor would be a shoo-in to add that much-needed spark and versatility that the national side had missed for quite some time.
Instead, the 31-year-old was snubbed with Hull KR treble-winner Mikey Lewis, Warrington Wolves halfback Williams and Wigan Warriors man Harry Smith being preferred.
Granted, Lewis and Smith thoroughly deserved their places but Williams had an inconsistent season plagued by injury and fluctuating form.
Connor’s exclusion was the focus of the media heading into the first Test, but Wane insisted it wasn’t a ‘difficult decision’ to leave the Leeds man out.
Instead, Wane remarked that he didn’t ‘see the obsession about the Man of Steel’ and that the accolade ‘didn’t mean anything’ to him.
Talking further about that decision, Wane said: “It was more about his form than anything else. We’ve had a good chat; he’s a good lad and I’ve got lots of time for him.”
Surely the Man of Steel is given to the most in-form player in the competition?
Anyway, Luke Thompson was also unlucky not to be included, along with his Wigan teammate Junior Nsemba, whilst Rovers’ Tom Davies, Dean Hadley and Elliot Minchella all had cases too.
But it was that halfback issue that seemed to stunt England throughout the series.
Indeed, Wane’s men scored just one try at Wembley through Daryl Clark – when the game had already been put to bed by the Aussies in emphatic fashion, 26-6.
And things didn’t exactly get much better on the attacking front at Everton, either, with only Harry Smith’s boot racking up the hosts’ four points.
England were much better at Everton, with the likes of Morgan Knowles, Morgan Smithies and Matty Lees throwing themselves at every Australia attacker possible.
But, the decision to leave Lewis on the bench and then bring the mercurial talent on for just 11 minutes towards the end was a focal point of criticism aimed at Wane.
The former Wigan boss, however, defended his choice, saying: “That’s (11 minutes) enough for Mikey to make an impact.
“We had it all set up beforehand about what minute he was going to go on and he covers us in quite a few positions. I’m happy with what we did there.”
With Jack Welsby also being dropped from the first Test, Gold Coast Titans star AJ Brimson made his England debut after switching his allegiance from Australia on account of his mother’s heritage.
Though Brimson impressed with his lively presence, the 27-year-old believed the 14-4 defeat was a chance missed: “We should take confidence, I think we let this one slip.
“I thought we went in at half-time confident we could get the job done, but we just couldn’t.
“We completed high and made it hard for them. They were coming up with errors, but it was probably our pressure that was making forced errors and I know we were better this game, but it was just disappointing.
“It was do or die today and we didn’t get the choccies.”
The chocolates might not have arrived but Wane’s men arrived at AMT Headingley with a point to prove after two disappointing results.
Joe Burgess replaced the injured Dom Young, who fractured his foot in the second Test, with Harry Newman playing on his own Leeds patch after coming in for Jake Wardle.
It was a sell-out crowd once more in West Yorkshire but the barely-lit England flame was extinguished almost immediately when Josh Addo-Carr glided over inside five minutes.
This time, it took Wane just 12 minutes to introduce Lewis from the bench – but again it wasn’t in his usual halfback spot as Lewis took over the fullback mantle with Brimson leaving the field early with a shoulder injury.
That injury was serious as Wane confirmed: “He’s really damaged his AC (joint) so bad.
“They are really painful and he was gutted to come off. He’s a brave kid and he’s loved his time here.He’s been a great addition to our squad – he’s really impressed.”
That swap backfired almost instantly with Lewis misfiring in attack and then letting Hudson Young sneak onto a Cameron Munster prod through instead of slamming the ball into Row Z.
But, a moment of magic brought England back into it with things looking ominous. Jez Litten broke brilliantly down the middle before the hooker rounded Reece Walsh and kicked ahead for Williams.
It’s funny what a player can do when they’ve been in-form all season and take that confidence into an Ashes Test Series, eh?
The same could not be said of Lewis who endured a nightmare at fullback, so it’s also funny what playing players out of position can do as well.
Fair enough, the Hull KR maverick has been a number one in the past, but his scintillating form in recent seasons has been down to his mercurial talent in the halves.
On the injury to Brimson and the decision to play Lewis at fullback, Wane revealed: “That hurt us a lot, the way we do everything, but I thought we adapted well.
“That’s why we had Mikey on the bench, although I didn’t expect to use him the way we did.”
England were, once again, the better side for the majority of the fixture but, yet again, a combination of stellar Australian defence and a lack of cutting edge saw the hosts limited to just one more four-pointer.
That means that in 240 minutes of rugby league – or four hours – England had registered just two tries against Australia’s 11, with Kevin Walters’ men piling on three late tries for a 30-8 triumph.
Even then, though, Wane was confident that he is the man to lead the national side for next year’s World Cup, saying after the result: “I don’t believe. I know I am (the right man).”
In terms of talks about his future, the 61-year-old continued: “The talks aren’t planned yet. But they will be planned. We’ll do a report on the series and what we think we need to make it better. We’re all going in the same direction.
“I need to have a conversation with the RFL in the next few weeks about the direction we’re going in. I’ll make recommendations to give us a chance to have these players prepared for a World Cup and we’ll take it from there.”
It’s fair to say that Wane still has the backing of his players, with captain Williams confirming the players are still right behind him.
He said: “100 percent, no doubt about it, we all believe in him.
“As disappointing as this season has been, what we’ve built has been really good under Shaun and he is definitely the right man for the job.”
That sentiment was echoed by Burgess, who made his first England appearance since 2015 at Headingley: “At club level Waney (Shaun Wane) has been there and done it all, as a player and a coach.
“And he’s built a good squad over the past few years.”
For Williams, the cruel nature of rugby league after a third defeat was there for all to see.
“Some of the lads are in there hurting, it’s a bit embarrassing going down 3-0.
“But it’s a good stepping stone into the World Cup to know what we are up against.”
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 515 (December 2025)