Kangaroos set for three-Test series in England in 2025
Australia won all three Tests as they claimed the most recent Ashes series against Great Britain in 2003
- Published
World champions Australia are set to tour England in 2025 for three Tests - the first time an Ashes series has been held in more than 20 years.
RL Commercial, the commercial arm of the Rugby Football League, has said "initial conversations" have been held with the Australian Rugby League Commission about moving the series to England.
The revamped Test series had been due to take place in Australia after initially being announced in 2023 as part of changes to the international rugby league calendar, but that plan is now set to be switched.
It will be the first time since 2003 that the Kangaroos have travelled to play in an Ashes series - with the previous incarnation being a contest between Australia and Great Britain.
A tour was scheduled for 2020 in advance of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup but it was cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It is eight years since England last faced Australia in a home international, when the travelling Kangaroos won 36-18 at the London Stadium in the 2016 Four Nations tournament.
"We are excited by the possibility of bringing the Kangaroos to these shores for a three-match series for the first time in more than 20 years, and we are starting work on the feasibility of such a tour," read a RL Commercial statement.
"We believe this would be welcomed by our England team, by British Rugby League supporters, by the British sporting public, and by the current generation of Australia players who would relish the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of so many great players of the past."
The original Ashes series was staged as a best-of-three set of matches held between Australia and Great Britain.
After the inaugural series in 1908, a total of 39 contests were held between the two sides.
In the last full Ashes series between an England or Great Britain side in 2003, the Kangaroos secured a three-game whitewash.
The talks come following a change to the international rugby league calendar in 2023 as France withdrew from holding the 2026 Rugby League World Cup after failing to get guaranteed backing from local and national government.
Australia - who won the most recent World Cup held in England in 2022 - will now host the men's, women's and wheelchair World Cups in October and November 2026, with games also in Papua New Guinea.