The 2025 Kangaroo tour of England is a tour by the Australia national rugby league team, in which the 2025 Ashes Series (branded as the ABK Beer Ashes Series for sponsorship reasons) will be contested.[2][3][4] The tour follows the conclusions of the domestic seasons in the UK and Australia.[5]
The tour was originally scheduled be a tour of Australia by England.[6] However, in October 2024, talks began regarding moving the tour to England, thus making Australia the tourists.[5]
Previous Ashes revivals had been planned for 2020[12] and 2024,[13] but were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the aforementioned change to the international calendar as a result of the postponed World Cup.[14]
Ahead of the tournament, The Guardian credited a successful 2021 World Cup as the catalyst for the new international calendar.[15]
Great Britain were Australia's traditional Ashes opponents, having played against each other from 1908 to 2003. The Great Britain side had begun to disband starting with the 1995 Rugby League World Cup in favour of the four home nations playing as individual teams. This process was completed with the 2007 All Golds Tour, the centenary of the first ever international tour.
In 2024, the Rugby Football League (RFL) considered the return of the Great Britain team for the 2025 tour, and possibly all future away tours, with the hope that the return of a traditional sporting brand would help connect more people to the team.[16] However, in September of that year, the governing body confirmed during the new England kit launch that England would continue the 2025 tour as planned.[17] A fan poll was conducted in regards to this subject.[18]
Host change
On 28 October 2024, the Australian Rugby League Commission announced talks were underway between themselves and Rugby League Commercial (a branch of the Rugby Football League) regarding the games being moved to England, with stadiums in Lancashire, Yorkshire, and London being considered for the venues.[5][19]BBC Sport attributed the host change to Australia now hosting the 2026 Rugby League World Cup, originally to be hosted by France in 2025.[20]
Upon the announcement of the tour, Australia were the best ranked team in the world with England ranked third.
Australia had played England / Great Britain 162 times previously, winning 88, drawing 7, and losing 67.[23]
The original Ashes ended in 2003 with 20 series wins to Australia and 19 to Great Britain. However 13 of the Australian wins came consecutively in the final 13 series, leaving Great Britain without an Ashes victory since 1970.
On 3 March 2025, it was reported that Wembley Stadium, Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium and Headingley Rugby Stadium would be the test venues with the RFL being close to confirming the change in host.[27] These venues were confirmed by the RFL on 26 March upon the official announcement of the change of host.[2]
Criticism was made by fans in regards to Headingley's inclusion as a host venue, stating that the size of the ground showed lack of ambition from the RFL.[28] The RFL stated that the larger Elland Road, also in Leeds (37,645 capacity), was under consideration; however, unspecified logistical challenges prevented its inclusion. Further the RFL cited reasons for Headingley's inclusion, stating that the game would be a guaranteed sell out thus increasing ticket sales in the first two games, and given that England had played at Headingley in their previous two international series the ground felt like a home stadium to most of the players. The RFL were also keen to reward Leeds Rhinos for the increase in commercial revenue generated for the RFL by their recent stadium redevelopment.[29]
Ticketing
The Rugby Football League gave a two day priority window for anyone who had bought tickets to an England game with in the previous ten years as a way of rewarding loyal supporters. A two-week presale then followed for people who had registered interest in purchasing tickets before remaining tickets were put on general sale.[2] 30,000 people had signed up for the presale in the first 24 hours,[30] this had rose to 50,000 by the start of presale.[31][32]
Tickets were priced between £30 and £60 depending on category, with an additional £80 category at Wembley.[33]
60,000 were bought within the first 24 hours of presale. All seated tickets for Headingley, in addition to South and East stand terraces, had sold out in less than 80 minutes, leaving only the western standing terrace tickets available. All category one seats at Everton had also sold out within the first day.[31][32] By day two of presale, Headingley had sold out completely with over 75,000 tickets sold in total.[34] Everton sold out within hours of general sale,[35] with an estimated fewer than 1,500 tickets available after presale.[36] In May, Rugby League Commercial revealed tickets for Wembley had surpassed 30,000,[37] with the 40,000 mark being reach in September. Addition tickets were released for the Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium following Everton successfully passing the test events required for a new stadium and a final capacity being made official for the stadium. These tickets went to supporters on a waiting list who missed out on tickets during the original sale. Total ticket sales were at 110,000 at this point.[38] Wembley ticket sales reached the 50,000 mark in the week before the match.[39]
In September, England's Victor Radley ruled himself out from selection. This came after his club Sydney Roosters imposed a 10 game domestic ban after police allegations of supplying drugs. Radley had not been charged at the time.[41]
On the week prior to Australia's squad announcement, fullback and former captain James Tedesco announced he would not participate due to the tournament conflicting with his brother's wedding.[42]
In March 2025, France head coach Laurent Frayssinous revealed in an interview with L'Indépendant that the three fixtures against England had been scheduled for 25 October, 1 November, and 8 November, and that then Australia head coach Mal Meninga had requested a warm up game against France – a request endorsed by the French Rugby League Federation.[51] This game however was vetoed by Australia's Rugby League Players Association and was replaced with two joint training sessions between the French and Australian national teams in London.[52] Fixtures against England were confirmed on 26 March.[2]
Both governing bodies, the RFL and ARLC, appointed a referee from their respective panel of officials. Liam Moore was the RFL's choice and would referee the first test, whereas Grant Atkins was the choice of the ARLC and would take charge of the second test. Both referees would be assessed on pre-agreed criteria with the best performing official being given the job for the third test.[55] Atkins was appointed as match official for the third and final test.[56]
The two governing bodies also agreed that golden point overtime will only be used in the third match if needed to decide the series and that the first two games can end as draws.[57]
The first test saw a closely contested first half with England responding well following Reece Walsh's opening try. However, Australia's superior quality, evident in the first half, played out in the second; the Kangaroos dominated the game scoring three unanswered tries with a second half brace from Angus Crichton in addition to Walsh getting a second. A late England resurgence in the final five minutes saw a consolation try for the hosts scored by Daryl Clark. Australia captain, Isaah Yeo, failed a head injury assessment early in the first half and was ruled out for the second test.[59][60] The attendance of 60,812 set the record for the highest attended Ashes game held in the UK.[61] Despite this, the match drew criticism for its "flat" atmosphere, particularly attributed to England's performance, but also with Wembley being far outside England's traditional rugby league territory and the stadium being only two thirds full.[62]
The second test saw an improved first half performance from England, however they were unable to take advantage, despite going over the try line twice only for both to be denied by the video referee. A tryless first half saw two penalties apiece converted by Harry Smith and Nathan Cleary respectively after ill discipline from both sides. The second half, as in the first test, saw Australia take control of the game with two tries in four minutes early in the half, by Cameron Munster and Hudson Young. England could not capitalise on Reece Walsh's sin bin, resulting in Australia winning the game and the Ashes with a final score of 14–4.[64][65]
The first test had an average television audience of 818,000 the UK, accounting for 14.2% of viewership.[70]
The second test had an average television audience of 837,000 the UK, accounting for 13.8% of viewership.[71]
Aftermath
Following England's Ashes defeat at the conclusion of the second test, England head coach Shaun Wane stated that England will continue to struggle to beat Australia until the intensity of Super League improves, further stating NRL players experience "test level match" on an almost weekly basis.[72] This point was also echoed the The Guardian and British rugby league website LoveRugbyLeague, with both stating Super League's expansion to 14 teams will not help improve intensity. The Guardian's Gavin Willacy went further on this suggesting that Bradford Bulls, Castleford Tigers, Huddersfield Giants, Toulouse Olympique, and York Knights aren't fit for Super League as they only provide "limited challenges" to top players.[73][74] Further criticism came as a result of Super League not allowing the national side any on field training sessions during the 2025 season, a point contested by Wane before the tour.[75]
Incidents
Ahead of the second test, UK serial prankster Daniel Jarvis gained access to the pitch and lined up with the Australia team before kickoff during the national anthems. He was subsequently detained by Merseyside Police at 2:30pm initially on suspension of "fraud by false representation".[76] The following day he was charged with "disrupting a person engaged in a lawful activity",[77] to which he pleaded not guilty on 3 November and will stand trial in April 2026.[78]
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