Category: Rugby League

Australia won in London, Liverpool and Leeds without being at their best. Shaun Wane needs to make changes

By No Helmets Required

Shaun Wane said England needed to take advantage of everything they could to beat Australia but he made a series of decisions that seemed to do the opposite. Taken individually, Wane’s choices could be justified. As a whole they spoke of an inability to read the room and possibly even an outdated approach to international sport. While the Kangaroos embraced the adventure of an Ashes series, Wane pushed England into a bunker. In the end they lost all three Tests.

After a wave of publicity and public engagement, the England players disappeared once the series began. Everything changed from the day before the first Test at Wembley, when England didn’t turn up for the captain’s run. Where was the community engagement? Where were the key players in the media? While the exuberant Kangaroos made hay on and off the field, England spent most of the series in Worsley and Wigan.

• Australia defend crown with 40-8 win against Kiwi Ferns at CommBank Stadium

• High-flying Robinson scores spectacular try as Jillaroos showcase class

The Jillaroos have sent another reminder of the gap between them and the rest of the world, defending their Pacific Cup crown with a 40-8 win over New Zealand.

One year out from a home World Cup and after a season that began with a 90-4 drubbing of England in Las Vegas, Australia again showed their class on Sunday afternoon.

Lack of preparation has hurt Shaun Wane’s side and upturn is unlikely while they are sidelined by club game

Saturday’s third and final Test has been described as a dead rubber and in terms of the outcome of this year’s Ashes series, that is undeniably the case. But the encounter in Leeds – possibly the last game England will play before next year’s World Cup – is anything but in terms of finding the answers to the questions which have arisen over the last few weeks for the national side.

Even the most optimistic of souls at the Rugby Football League would argue this has been a series that has not hit the mark from an English perspective. As such, a series whitewash being completed by Australia at Headingley on Saturday afternoon will leave questions hanging over the England coach, Shaun Wane, and whether he can lead the side into the World Cup in 2026.

Australia’s talisman, likened to LeBron James, has left lasting legacy in Ashes series amid gloom of sport’s future

The debrief is yet to begin over the failure of England’s Ashes campaign both on and off the field, and just how big a missed opportunity the past few weeks could prove to be for the game in this country. But amid all the gloom, there has been an unlikely beacon of hope for the sport’s promoters.

As the 52,000-plus crowd filtered away from Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday evening, there was a huge ruckus outside the players’ entrance. Not for any of the home players, who had once again flattered to deceive. Not even for Nathan Cleary, regarded as the world’s biggest star for a number of years and someone with genuine worldwide cut-through.

The coach says England will not win the Ashes until Super League players become used to ‘really intense games’

By No Helmets Required

Shaun Wane is a bear of a man who has built a hugely successful rugby career on intimidation and rabble-rousing, terrifying his own players as much as opponents and reporters. But being an emotional person works both ways. It would not have been a surprise if the 14-4 defeat to Australia had left the England coach in tears on Saturday but, in fact, he his feelings broke through when I asked him about his grandchildren.

After the final whistle Wane spent some time cuddling his small grandkids by the England dugout, showering them with attention and affection. It was lovely and touching. Their smiles and laughter were clearly infectious. A few minutes later, Wane was telling the press how “devastated” he was by the defeat and how 10 loose minutes from his players after half-time had infuriated him. “That really, really hurts – I’m so disappointed,” he said.

• Serial prankster arrested for stunt in Liverpool

• ‘He got me an absolute ripper,’ says Kangaroos star Cameron Munster

A pitch invader who lined up alongside Australia’s rugby league players while the national anthem played at the weekend’s Ashes match in Liverpool has been arrested.

Daniel Jarvis, a serial prankster, allegedly escaped the attention of security before kick-off in the second Test against England, slipping undetected on to the pitch to link arms with Kangaroos star Cameron Munster as Advance Australia Fair played.

• Australia beat Kiwi Ferns 10-4 at Auckland’s Eden Park

• Church scores crucial try and sets up another on Test debut

Australia fullback Abbi Church has produced a spectacular Test debut in a hard fought 10-4 Pacific Championships win over New Zealand.

Church, 27, came into the starting side when No 1 Tamika Upton was ruled out with a calf strain, and set up a try before scoring one herself at Eden Park.

England will look to Australia-born AJ Brimson to turn their fortunes around in second Test at Hill Dickinson Stadium

All change. In truth, something had to give following the nature of England’s performance at Wembley last weekend but as Shaun Wane’s side look to send the Ashes to a deciding Test in Leeds next Saturday, there are wholesale changes that the hosts hope will provide a reaction both on and off the field.

Wembley was underwhelming last weekend on multiple fronts. England limped to a fairly miserable 26-6 defeat, in which they showed little of what had been promised in the build-up to a first Ashes series in 22 years. But the atmosphere felt flat, in part due to what Wane’s men delivered, but also due to the fact the stadium wasn’t full.

• Australia women crush Fetu Samoa 60-0 at Suncorp Stadium

• Samoa men’s side turn tables to defeat Tonga 34-6 in Brisbane

Julia Robinson has become the most prolific try-scorer in Jillaroos history with a superwoman effort in a 60-0 drubbing of Fetu Samoa, before the Samoa men’s side turned the tables to defeat Tonga 34-6.

The 27-year-old Robinson notched her 20th Test try with a stunning dive to catch a Jesse Southwell bomb, flying 5m through the air to catch the ball and score in the Pacific Cup double-header at Suncorp Stadium.

England were easily beaten by Australia in the first match of the series at Wembley

4 mins. Welsby runs a a wide channel on a kick return that nearly allows him to put Farnworth away on the left, but the green and gold door slams shut. There are more jabs and probing runs from both sides as we await the game to break out from the solid start.

2 mins. Australia receive the ball and execute a settling first set of six of the match, the forwards carrying up to their forty metre line before Cleary puts his foot through the ball. A similar story for England’s first set as the teams feel their way into the test match.

Australia are dominant but Shaun Wane hopes some wise heads and exciting Mikey Lewis could cause an upset

It has been a long time between drinks – 22 years to be exact. The Ashes were last staged in 2003, meaning more than two decades have elapsed without international rugby league’s greatest rivalry, a wait which finally ends on Saturday at Wembley. For Shaun Wane, the wait must have felt like an eternity.

If you were fortunate enough to be there when Wane was appointed as England coach in February 2020, it is easy to remember that he could not hide his delight that his first assignment was an Ashes series that autumn. Of course, within weeks the world had ground to a halt thanks to Covid-19 and the chance of taking on Australia on home soil disappeared.