England's Ashes hopes end with 'reality check'

In the words of captain George Williams, England were handed a brutal "reality check" as Australia secured the Rugby League Ashes.

The Kangaroos' 14-4 triumph at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday gave them a 2-0 series lead, making next week's soldout third Test at AMT Headingley in Leeds a dead rubber.

Shaun Wane's side had come into the series harbouring hopes of sending Australia to a first Ashes series defeat since 1970.

In the past two years, they had enjoyed a 3-0 series win over Tonga and a 2-0 triumph over Samoa. But as the Rugby League Ashes resumed after a 22-year absence, England were unable to take the next step against the world champions.

"We're not making excuses. We've had enough sessions to get it right on the field, and I don't think we've quite done that," Williams told BBC Sport.

"Credit to Australia. They were good defensively. But we've got loads to work on. We're probably not as good as we thought we were going into this series.

"So it's a good reality check for us, and [there is] loads to improve on."

Australia 'turn up and are ruthless'

Australia scored two tries in a five-minute spell during the second half of the second Test

Having been soundly beaten in an error-strewn display at Wembley, Wane side's were much improved on Saturday back in the rugby league heartlands of northern England.

In a rousing opening period, England forced mistakes from the Kangaroos and had all the field position and possession, but crucially did not make it count on the scoreboard.

Tellingly, England have now scored just one try over 160 minutes, with St Helens hooker Daryl Clark barging over late on in the loss in London.

In contrast, Australia have racked up six in two games - and when mistakes began to creep into the hosts' play just after the break, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be severely punished.

First Cameron Munster went over, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being level at 4-4, England were 10 points adrift.

"Proud for the majority of the game. I thought for 70 minutes we were good," said Wane.

"The switch off for 10 minutes after half-time hurt us immensely. Munster's first try was soft and should not be scored in a Test match.

"We're devastated. So proud the players had a dig but so disappointed with that after half-time, which cost us dearly."

While the next World Cup in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under 12 months away, England's immediate focus will be on trying to restore some pride, avoiding a series whitewash and eradicating the mistakes that irritated Wane.

"I wanted to see more thrown at Australia. I wanted us to build pressure in the game - we didn't do that last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We did this week. It's just a bit of detail in our attack where we could have put them under more pressure. We need to defend both [tries] better.

"Fair play to Australia - that is no detriment to them. They turn up and are ruthless when they get a chance, and we weren't, but defensively we can and should do better.

"They will be obsessed to win 3-0 and we need to be obsessed to make it 2-1. I've said that to the players. It has to be our obsession. It's going to be a tough week but whoever wants it the most will get the win next week."

Intensity needs to improve in Super League

England have played a similar number of Test matches to Australia since the last World Cup in 2022.

Yet Wane believes that the strength of the NRL - and quality of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and Queensland - provide a much better grounding for competing at the top of the international game than what is on offer in the northern hemisphere.

Wane added that the congested Super League fixture schedule left no time for him to work with his squad during the season, which will only pose further questions around how England can bridge the gap to Australia before travelling to Oceania in 2026.

"They play a lot of Test matches in their competition," Wane added.

"We play 10-15 a year. We need really intense games to improve the competition and improve our chances of winning these sorts of games.

"I couldn't even train with the players. We never got on the field in the season and I had the full backing of everyone in Super League.

"I have also been in the boots of the head coaches that need to win games. The competition is that congested. It's unfortunate but it's not the reason we got beaten today."