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 As a whole they spoke of an inability to read the room and possibly even an outdated approach to international sport.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.
Last week, England shunned Leeds almost entirely. They didn’t even use their local players to promote the third Test at Headingley. Little was made of the team’s heritage either; where was the parade of the 2006 Great Britain team or the 1995 England side? And after each game, England’s players went to friends and family while the Australians lapped the whole pitch to meet fans.
The preparations could have been better. Did Wane press hard enough for mid-season training sessions? Giving his squad the day off before every Test meant players did not experience the turf at Wembley and the Everton stadium until the warm-up. They also missed out on three supposedly precious training slots.
“I’d love a game and some warm-up time with the players,” said Wane after England’s 30-8 defeat on Saturday. And yet he opted against a warm-up match when France (and Ireland and Wales) were available. Even pummelling part-time opponents (or losing to Italy as England did in 2013) would have prepared England better than a training session among themselves.
England will almost certainly have to win all three group games to reach the World Cup semi-finals next year. They will have to “hit the ground running”, as Jamie Peacock said on Saturday. At Wembley, England just hit the ground. They found their feet at Everton and were standing tall by half-time at Headingley. A similarly flat start at the World Cup, when England could visit Tonga and Papua New Guinea in their opening two games, could lead to an early and undignified exit.
The fact that Australia won the series 3-0 without playing anywhere their best should concern England fans. England will remain third in the world rankings but would this Australia side have won all three Tests in New Zealand, Samoa or Tonga? Unlikely. The gap between hemispheres continues to grow. Australia have now won all 22 games against European nations in the 20 years since the Lions won in Sydney: 14 on the bounce against England, plus two over Scotland and France and one against Great Britain, Wales, Ireland and Italy. And the majority of those games were in Europe.
Just like the British assumption that having a dozen French players in Super League would make France competitive has proved way off the mark, having half a dozen English players in the NRL is not enough for England to threaten Australia when silverware is on the line. In 1992, Great Britain had 21 players good enough to feature in the Australian league.
So, where do England go from here? The solution is not to put the Ashes back on the mantelpiece but to ensure England become more competitive. Not a single British player has played a Test in Australia since the 2017 World Cup. For their professional and personal development, that’s utterly ridiculous. Ashes tours also give Australia players the global experiences they want, which is especially important at a time when Rugby 360 is starting to raid the NRL for players. If rugby league does not give players global experiences, they may look to union. Australia want to tour and England need to play at home to make money. That is the RFL’s trump card – possibly only card – in this game.
The series is still a money maker when held in England. The revenue from selling 130,000 tickets and packing out corporate lounges should reap around £3m profit for the RFL. Troy Grant, the International Rugby League chair, wants a series every four years between World Cups – 2028, 2032 etc – but, realistically, Australia know incoming England tours won’t sell. The Kangaroos and Kiwis have fierce and lucrative rivalries on their doorsteps, so the ARLC needs to discuss how to get England competitive international action without weakening the Pacific Championship.
Wane and the RFL now have to wait 11 months to rectify their errors. The coach may not be given the chance. At least they delivered on British rugby league’s mantra of “never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity”.
Foreign quota
The Cook Islands beat South Africa in Sydney on Sunday to book their place at the World Cup next summer, ensuring that seven of the 10 teams in the men’s tournament will be from the Asia-Pacific. Only England and France will represent Europe, with Lebanon the odd men out. While Italy, Jamaica, USA, Tonga, Cooks, Ireland, Canada, Nigeria and Kenya all fell by the wayside in the women’s qualifiers, only Wales, Ukraine, Serbia, Jamaica and the improving South Africa were allowed to try (but fail) to qualify for the men’s tournament. Hopefully far more countries will have attained or regained full member status by 2027 so they can try to qualify for the 2030 tournament.
Clubcall: East Leeds ARLFC
As the curtain finally falls on another season, credit to the following champions: West Hull, who won the National Conference League title; Wigan St Jude’s, who won NCL Division One; Keighley Albion, who won the NCL Division Three. Orrell St James added the BARLA National Cup to their North West Men’s crown; Seaton Rangers beat Maryport to be crowned Cumberland champions; Hammersmith Hills Hoists were Southern Conference winners again and Medway Dragons lifted the Harry Jepson Trophy. And, perhaps the team of the season, East Leeds won all 20 of their games in NCL Division Two, scoring more than 1,000 points. Hats off to them.
Goalline dropout
“A player shall be penalised if he deliberately knocks on.” So says the international rules. And yet Reece Walsh batted down passes twice at Wembley to prevent tries. Mark Nawaqanitawase did it at Everton too. The punishment each time was a scrum to England, as if it was an unintentional, honest attempt to intercept. No referee awards the penalty as stated in the rules. As a tactic, batting down can backfire, as it did at Headingley when Jez Litten saw Walsh coming so dummied for George Williams’ try – but, with the touchline acting as another defender, it’s a cop out for defenders out wide. Union has gone too far the other way, with over-officious video referees often punishing failed interceptions with ludicrous sin-bins. But a penalty should surely be awarded in both codes when a ball is deliberately knocked to the ground.
Fifth and last
The end of the season brought its usual plethora of retirements. Among them Wales stalwart Rhys Williams and his best mate Elliot Kear after 372 games; former Ireland back Gregg McNally after 17 seasons; two of Scotland’s most-capped players in Dale Ferguson and Ben Hellewell; and dual-Anglo-Irish international Michael McIlhorum, who goes from adding another Super League title with Hull KR to coaching at Catalans. A flurry of his old England teammates have also stepped down, including Warrington goalkicker extraordinaire Stefan Ratchford; Jamie Shaul, who finished at Goole seven years after winning his one cap; 2013 World Cup centre Leroy Cudjoe signed off after 18 years with Huddersfield; and – for the second time – Sam Tomkins. Not offered a contract by Wigan when he left school at 16, Tomkins went to work as a groundskeeper at his local golf club. He did OK in the end.
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