Results
| Year | Winner | Score | Runners-up | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
  2025 |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Rugby league |
| Established | 2023 |
| Participants | |
The Ashes series, similar to the cricket series of the same name, is a best-of-three series of test matches between Australia and England women's national rugby league football teams.
The inaugural tournament will take place in 2025 alongside the men's tournament. The women's Ashes was founded in 2023 alongside the revival of the men's tournament. The original men's series between Australia and Great Britain was contested 39 times between 1908 and 2003. The Great Britain women's team toured Australia twice; in 1996 and 2002.
The original men's Ashes series was a best-of-three series of test matches between Australia and Great Britain national rugby league football teams. [1] [2] It had been contested 39 times from 1908 until 2003 largely with hosting rights alternating between the two countries. [3]
Towards the end of this period, two women's test series took place between Australia and Great Britain, however it is unclear if these were referred to as The Ashes at the time. Both of these took place in Australia, the first taking place during the 1996 Great Britain Women's Rugby League Tour of Australia which saw Great Britain take a 2–1 test series victory over Australia. [4] [5] A similar tour was repeated in 2002, this time seeing Australia take 2–1 victory. [6] In 2024, the 1996 Great Britain team were inducted in the Rugby Football League Hall of Fame. [7] [8]
On 3 August 2023, the announcement of the International Rugby League new 7-year international calendar and long-term strategy for growth of the international game saw the inclusion of the women's Ashes as a regular test series, with the inaugural edition to take place in 2025. [9] [10] Initially, all three test matches of the 2025 series were scheduled to take place in Australia alongside the men's games. However, with the Super League involvement in the NRL's Rugby League Las Vegas event, [11] [12] came the decision to stage the first of these tests matches in the United States as the third of four matches of the 2025 event. [13]
| Year | Winner | Score | Runners-up | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 |
The Ashes series, similar to the cricket series of the same name, was a best-of-three series of test matches between Australia and Great Britain national rugby league football teams. It had been contested 39 times from 1908 until 2003 largely with hosting rights alternating between the two countries. Since 1973, Australia has won a record thirteen consecutive Ashes series.
The Great Britain national rugby league team represents Great Britain in rugby league. Administered by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the team is nicknamed The Lions.
The Australian national rugby league team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competitions since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League Commission, the Kangaroos are ranked first in the IRL Men's World Rankings. The team is the most successful in Rugby League World Cup history, having won the competition 12 times, and contested 15 of the 16 finals, only failing to reach the final in the 1954 inaugural tournament. Only five nations have beaten Australia in test matches, and Australia has an overall win percentage of 69%.
Kristian John Radlinski MBE is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played mainly as a fullback. He is currently CEO of Wigan Warriors whom he played his entire professional career for, making over 300 appearances between 1993 and 2006, and also represented England and Great Britain at international level.
Adrian Paul Morley is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a prop or second-row forward. With a reputation as a tough, uncompromising competitor, Morley was the first British player to become a Grand Final winner in both the National Rugby League and Super League.
The Rugby League Hall of Fame honours the leading players of the sport of rugby league. It was established by the sport's governing body in the UK, the Rugby Football League, in 1988. Players must have been retired for at least five years to be eligible; they must also have played at least ten years within the British game. Players are chosen for induction to the hall of fame by a panel consisting of sports writers, broadcasters and officials.
Robert Fulton, also nicknamed "Bozo", was an Australian international rugby league footballer, coach and later commentator. Fulton played, coached, selected for and has commentated on the game with great success at the highest levels and has been named amongst Australia's greatest rugby league players of the 20th century. As a player Fulton won three premierships with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in the 1970s, the last as captain. He represented the Australian national side on thirty-five occasions, seven times as captain. He had a long coaching career at the first grade level, taking Manly to premiership victory in 1987 and 1996. He coached the Australian national team in thirty-nine Tests. He was a New South Wales State selector and a national selector. He was a radio commentator with 2GB at the time of his death in 2021, aged 73. In 1981, he was selected as one of the initial four post-war "Immortals" of the Australian game and, in 2008, he was named in Australia's team of the century.
Les Boyd is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He played representative football for the Australian national side in international matches as well as the New South Wales side in the State of Origin. Boyd played club football in both Australia and England and his usual position was in the second-row.
John William Whiteley MBE was an English professional rugby league footballer and coach. He played his entire club career with Hull FC making over 400 appearances between 1950 and 1965. He also represented Great Britain at international level, winning the Rugby League World Cup with the team in 1954 and 1960.
Rugby league is played across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, but its heartland in parts of Northern England is where the sport is most popular, and is where the majority of professional clubs are based. The sport was first established in the George Hotel, Huddersfield, where 22 clubs split from the Rugby Football Union to form the Northern Rugby Football Union.
The Australia women's national rugby league team, also known as the Australian Jillaroos, or Harvey Norman Jillaroos for sponsorship reasons, represents Australia in women's rugby league. They played their first formal international in 1995 under the administration of the Australian Women's Rugby League. The AWRL affiliated with the Australian Rugby League in the late 1990s, with AWRL reports included in ARL annual reports. Since the advent of the Australian Rugby League Commission in February 2012, the team has been administered by that body and the National Rugby League.
The 1978 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France comprised the Australia national rugby league team's fourteenth tour of Great Britain and ninth tour of France and took place from September to December 1978. Coached by Frank Stanton and captained by Bob Fulton, the Australian team, also known as the Kangaroos, played a match against Wales before contesting the Ashes series against Great Britain, winning the third and deciding Test match. The tourists then moved on to France where they were narrowly beaten in both Tests, the last series the Kangaroos would lose until 2005. In addition to these six internationals, the Australians played sixteen other matches against local club and representative sides in both countries. The 1978 Kangaroo tour followed the tour of 1973 while the next tour would be staged in 1982.
The Great Britain women's national rugby league team, also known as the Great Britain Lionesses, represents Great Britain in Women's rugby league. They are administered by the Rugby Football League (RFL). The Great Britain Lionesses have placed third both the 2000 and 2003 Women's Rugby League World Cup.
The England women's national Rugby League team represents England in Women's Rugby League. They are administered by the Rugby Football League.
The Great Britain Women’s Rugby League tour of Australia in 1996 was the first such tour by a female British or English Rugby League team. Seven matches were played during the three-week tour, including three Test Matches. These were the first Rugby League internationals played by Great Britain or England women. For the host nation, Australia, this tour followed on from a visit by the New Zealand women’s rugby league team during the previous year, 1995.
The 2026 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2026) is a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league and is a replacement tournament for the 2025 Rugby League World Cup.
Rugby League Las Vegas is an annual event held at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas showcasing the sport of rugby league. The event was started in 2024 by Australia's National Rugby League (NRL) before being joined by Super League clubs from the United Kingdom in 2025.
The 2025 England Lions and Lionesses tour of Australia will be a joint tour of Australia by the England men's and England women's national rugby league teams. The tour will see the return of The Ashes and will occur following the conclusions of the domestic seasons in the UK and Australia.
The Ashes series, similar to the cricket series of the same name, is a best-of-three series of test matches between Australia and England national rugby league football teams.
Rugby league Ashes  /  | |
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| Teams |
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| Men's original series | |
| Men's modern series | |
| Women's series | |
