We need some Ashes glory in colour, says England's Wane

BBC News

26-03-2025

Having studied the sepia-tinged tapes of the last Ashes series win against Australia, England head coach Shaun Wane hopes his 2025 side can end a long wait for Test success in glorious technicolour.You have to go back to 1970 to find such television footage, when the late Johnny Whitley's Great Britain team, led by Frank Myler, won the last two Tests to come out 2-1 winners down under.With the announcement that Mal Meninga's Kangaroos are heading over to face England at the end of the regular season, Wane has quickly turned his focus to writing new history in a famous old rivalry."I'm a very, very competitive person, and I want to be the coach of the first team to win it for decades," Wane told BBC Sport."We've not won one for many, many years - last time we won was 1970. I've watched those games, but they're in black and white."Now we need a colour memory, and this is our chance."
'Chance to face world's best is phenomenal'
Securing the Ashes series this autumn gives England the chance to test their mettle against the world champions, after an eight-year wait.That last meeting was in the 2017 World Cup final, which Australia won. Since then, the Kangaroos have won the world crown again, doing so in England in 2022."The chance to go up against the best in the world is phenomenal," Wane added, describing the chance to lead the team out as his "coaching highlight". "The RFL and RL Commercial have done a great job to get this on because it's not been straightforward."To get three Ashes Test matches at fantastic grounds is so exciting for me. I'm going to make sure I work hard and make sure the players are prepared."Wane believes the final game at rugby league hotbed Headingley will be a "perfect finish" given the facilities on offer and the loyalty shown at previous events, but is equally excited by the venues that highlight the ambition shown in marketing this tour."As for Wembley - it's iconic for us," he added. "I've played there, been there as a coach, watched games, watched Test matches there."I was brought up with Great Britain versus Australia and England versus Australia matches."Everton is a brand new ground. I've seen the views of it, it looks fantastic and I'm excited for that. Now it's secured as a venue I'll be taking an even closer look."
'Stay in grind, with English style' - Wane plots success
England's struggles against Australia have been hard to bear - with a long wait to try to put things right since that 2017 loss.Josh Dugan's ankle-tap on a runaway Kallum Watkins - to deny a try-scoring chance in dramatic fashion - ended England's best chance of challenging in that final, and the memory remains sore.It meant even the 'supercoach' Wayne Bennett would join Brian Noble, Mal Reilly, Ellery Hanley and Eric Ashton as coaches unable to break the Aussie stranglehold.Yet with Wigan and St Helens enjoying recent World Club Challenge success against NRL opposition, and the upper end of Super League looking strong, Wane has a blueprint with which to seek glory."It is a real Test for us," Wane added. "They've got so many good players. And I've watched over the years when we've got close to Australia and lost in the last few minutes - it's heartbreaking."You need to go set-for-set like they're used to in the NRL - and if we can do that, there are a few technicalities in how we do things that are very different for the NRL players and that's going to be our advantage."If we can match them in the grind of international sport with a little bit of difference in English style, hopefully we can challenge them."