England’s Ashes hopes end with ‘reality check’

As Australia won the Rugby League Ashes, England received a brutal “reality check,” according to captain George Williams.

The Kangaroos won the series opener 14-4 on Saturday at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium, giving them a 2-0 lead over the team’s sold-out third Test against AMT Headingley in Leeds.

Australia’s first series defeat against the Ashes since 1970 was a goal that Shaun Wane’s side had in mind when they first started the series.

They had won the series by beating Tonga 3-3 and defeating Samoa 2-3 in the previous two years. England were unable to face the world champions as the Rugby League Ashes resumed after a 22-year break.

We don’t have any excuses. I don’t believe we’ve quite accomplished what we’ve been given, Williams said to BBC Sport, adding that we’ve had enough training to get it right on the field.

Australia deserves praise. They had a strong defensive line. However, there is still much to work on. We’re probably not as skilled as we thought we would be in this series.

Wane side’s performance at Wembley was significantly improved on Saturday when they returned to the rugby league heartlands of northern England, having been conspicuously defeated in an error-strewn display at Wembley.

England forced errors from the Kangaroos in a stirring opening period, despite having the entire field in position and possession, to scoreboard dominance.

Tellingly, England have only managed one try in 160 minutes, with St Helens hooker Daryl Clark’s late-range try in London.

In contrast, Australia has six goals in two games, and it was only when mistakes started to creep into hosts’ play after the break that decided they were going to be severely punished.

Hudson Young and Cameron Munster crossed before they did. England was ten points adrift after finishing with a 4-4 overall record.

“Proud for the majority of the game,” he said. We were good, I thought for 70 minutes, Wane said.

“We were severely harmed by the 10-minute switch off after half-time. In a test match, Munster’s first try was soft, and it ought not to be scored.

“We’re devastated,” After half-time, we were so happy the players had a dig, but we were so disappointed with it.

England’s immediate priority will be on attempting to recreate some pride, avoid a series whitewash, and end the errors that irritated Wane, despite the imminent completion of the next World Cup in Australia and Papua New Guinea.

“I desired to see more of Australia being thrown at it. The 61-year-old continued, “I wanted to build pressure in the game; we didn’t do that last week.

This week, we did. There are only a few areas in our attack where we could have put more pressure on them. We need to make better use of both [tries].

Australia is in good company, and that does not hurt them. We weren’t, but they show up and are ruthless when they get the chance, which is unfortunate, but defensively we can and should do better.

Since the last World Cup in 2022, England has hosted Australia in the same number of Test matches.

Wane believes that competing at the top of the international game thanks to the strength of the NRL and the caliber of the State of Origin contests between New South Wales and Queensland.

Wane added that there is no time for him to work with his squad during the season due to the congested Super League schedule, which will only raise further questions about how England can close the gap before visiting Oceania in 2026.

Wane continued, “They compete in a lot of Test matches.”

“We play 10-15 a year. To increase the intensity of the competition and increase our chances of winning these kinds of games, we need really intense games.

I was unable to even work with the players. I had the full support of everyone in Super League, but we never made it on the field during the season.