Live: Ashes rugby league returns at Wembley stadium after 22-year absence

He has come in a bit late with a swinging arm while Mikey Lewis was on the ground there.

And Lewis gets up and gives the big forward a shove.

That’s a bit more like it – it’s been a bit too nice so far out there.

England moves the ball to the right and try to find Dom Young, but the pass is way over his head and the Kangaroos will have the ball on the 20.

And down the tunnel for an HIA.

Reuben Cotter is on.

That was very good from England!

Dom Young made a burst out of a Isaah Yeo tackle and left the Australian captain looking a bit wobbly.

Then George Williams landed a cute kick forward, gathered by Jack Welsby, but his attempted pass to Herbie Farnworth is knocked down by Walsh on the Kangaroos 40.

He was going for an intercept.

Some very solid carries there, started by Herbie Farnworth.

The defensive line was not great, Morgan Knowles playing at dummy half and trying to find Ethan
Havard, but the big prop loses the ball forward on the Kangaroos 30.

The Aussies were close to opening England up there, an overlap on the right side, but Hudson Young took the ball into contact on the England 40 and as he looked to offload it, lost the ball.

The crowd rises again.

Oh there’s the fire!

Tino Fa’asuamaleaui
has absolutely flattened the England ball carrier there with a monster shot.

The crowd rises and wants some sort of retribution, but there’s none forthcoming.

The Aussies kick the ball deep off a 50-metre first set, Nathan Cleary sending the ball long to Tom Johnstone, who is slammed into the ground 20 metres out.

This first hit up is going to be so huge.

Can the English back up their bravado and give it to the Australians?

It is the Aussies who will have first use of the ball as Mikey Williams kicks off!

England captain George Williams is feeling pretty confident.

In fact, in his column for the BBC Sport website, Warrington halfback Williams says that this Ashes series represents England’s “best chance” to regain the Ashes for the first time since 1970.

“Training has been intense,” he writes.

“The sessions have been so good, really slick.

“It’s the first time I’ve heard [England coach Shaun Wane] Waney say, ‘Will you just chill out?’ because everybody’s running that quick and they’re that keen to put their best foot forward.

“Everything goes out of the window from the season gone.

“Training is ramped up because everyone wants to be in the Test side and everyone is making each other better.”

He said that he believes the Australian team respects England for their results of late — they’ve not been beaten since 2022 — and that there are enough unknows in the England team that the Aussies could be caught out.

He believes that former Canberra teammate Hudson Young will perhaps have a target on him after they played together in the Raiders team of 2020.

But regardless of who is in Australia’s team, England feel they are ready.

“As a group, I don’t think we’ve ever been more ready than this,” he says.

“It’s the best England set-up I’ve been a part of, and I’ve been a part of it for 10 years now so I’m getting old.

“I don’t say that lightly. It’s our best chance.”

Huge flags dominate each half of the playing surface as the players line up for the anthems in front of what looks to be a very healthy crowd.

The Aussies were out first and were made to wait a little bit too.

Time for the anthems.

The BBC are reporting that 57,000 tickets had been sold by Wednesday for this match.

The record for an Ashes Test crowd in England is currently 57,034.

So we should get a record today.

Former England and Great Britain forward Jamie Peacock did not have a whole lot of luck playing against Australia during his career.

But he thinks, unlike the legends that he used to line up against during his career, this Australian team is ripe for the picking.

“It’s a great time to play Australia,” he told the BBC this week.

“We came through and played against a team who might have had five Immortals in there.

“They had Cameron Smith, Darren Lockyer, Johnathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk, Greg Inglis, Paul Gallen, some iconic players of the last 20 years.

“This current team have got Nathan Cleary, who’s going to be a standout head and shoulders.

“They’re reduced by all the Pacific Island switches.”

Intriguing.

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Last week, George Williams added a little bit of lighter fluid to the simmering rivalry between England and Australia, suggesting in a Guardian interview that some NRL players don’t want to play for Australia.

“The Aussies see State of Origin as bigger than playing for Australia, which I find very strange,” he said.

“Some NRL lads were not that bothered about playing for Australia. I found that a weird one. I couldn’t get my head around it.”

Isaah Yeo even semi-agreed to Williams in the press conference.

“It’s obviously a big income stream for the Australian rugby league, the NRL,” he said.

“I can only speak for myself: any time you represent your country that should be the pinnacle but that’s probably more associated with how much money Origin makes.

“It’s a really big series in the middle of the season that creates hundreds of millions of dollars, I’d assume.”

But Nathan Cleary and Harry Grant both said the Origin experience will stand them in good stead when it comes to this three-match series.

One thing that might cause a few issues in this game is how it is going to be refereed.

We are, of course, in England, and the referee, Liam Moore, will be from the Super League, where the rules are interpreted a little differently to how they are in the NRL.

For example, the speed of the play the ball is something that the NRL has honed over the last few years, making it faster and faster, with the six-again call instrumental in that.

There is no six-again call in England – and the play the ball is slower. A lot slower at times.

“My father taught me from a very young age not to ever use the referee as an excuse for your performance, and that’ll be the case with our boys on Saturday,” Kangaroos coach Kevin Walters said.

“He’s there to do a job, he’ll be doing the best job that he can. That’s not our focus.

“We need to do the best job that we can.

“For the referee, I’m sure it’ll be a great day for him as well. I strongly believe that he won’t decide the game.”

The Aussies have used Australia-born Super League referee James Vella to help them through a couple of the minor issues, such as how one-on-one strips are officiated.

As you might expect, England coach Shaun Wane said there was no question that the game was going to be refereed in a way the England players expected.

“It’s our competition, it’s over here. I wouldn’t go to Australia and play an Ashes and expect our rules. It’s their rules. That’s the way it should be,” he said this week.

“At this late stage… I’d want to be told weeks and weeks ago so I can fix things in training, make sure that we’re on it. There’s nothing that’s been mentioned to me.

“We’ve got an English referee — it’s going to be refereed similar to the [Super League] grand final.

“We’ve had Super League refs down to train with us at Robin Park.”

There has been a lot of talk about whether Mark Nawaqanitawase will continue in the NRL beyond this year, with rumours suggesting he will return to rugby union ahead of the home Rugby World Cup.

The merits of Sonny Bill Williams-ing his way through his career is perhaps for another day, but should he make an expected return to the 15-a-side game, incoming Wallabies coach Les Kiss has said he would be selected for his side — if he can prove his form.

“I think there’s a little bit of water to go under the bridge before we get to those discussions. One thing’s certain, he’s earned his way to that Kangaroo jersey,” Kiss said.

“We know he loves the game of rugby, so all options are open.”

Read the full story here.

For those of you who have not been to the UK recently, it may (or may not) surprise you that rugby league is very much a minority sport in England.

Which is why the attention that this first Ashes series in 22 years is getting is so heartening for fans of the sport in the UK.

Even Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP, the speaker of the House of Commons, has been talking rugby league this week – although given he’s the member for the Lancashire cotton town of Chorley, deep in rugby league territory, it’s not a huge surprise he’s a fan.

Cast those parched throats skywards, league fans.

It’s about to start raining Ashes.

Hmmm, on second thoughts, get an umbrella up.

Kangaroos. Wallabies. Doesn’t matter for Jason Robinson.

The former England cross-code star loved scoring tries against marsupials big and small, including this one at Wembley.

As for “superb” England tries?

I dunno if this is one of them.

I’m sure the English supporters would take it, though.