Men's rugby league Ashes

The Ashes
Tournament information
SportRugby league
Established1908
AdministratorsAustralian Rugby League Commission
Rugby Football League
ParticipantsAustralia[a] vs
Great Britain (until 2003)
England (from 2025)
Current champion
Australia (21st title)
Most recent tournament
2025 Rugby League Ashes

The Ashes series is a best-of-three series of test matches between Australia and England national rugby league football teams.[1][2]

Named after the cricket series of the same name, the series was initially contested between the Australia and Great Britain national teams. The series first took place in 1908, and was contested 39 times until 2003, with hosting usually alternating between the two countries. Since 1973, Australia has won a record thirteen consecutive Ashes series.[3]

After a hiatus of over 20 years, the Ashes series was revived in 2025. The series will continue as a best-of-three test match series between Australia and England.[4]

Origin

The term "Ashes" originated in cricket, with several other sporting events adopting the concept, and by the beginning of the 20th century it was an "accepted principle" that a test series had to have at least three matches to be a true test of which side was the best, leading to the modern day best of five in cricket and best of three in rugby league. For a brief period, the games were known as "Winter Ashes" and "Summer Ashes" reflecting the time of year the two sport's were traditionally play. Before Australia and Great Britain began contesting the Ashes in rugby league, Australia also contested Ashes in rugby union against New Zealand until it was placed by the Bledisloe Cup in 1931.[2]

History

Australia vs Great Britain

The Australia squad of the 1908–09 Ashes
The Great Britain squad of the 1910 Ashes

The first rugby league Ashes tour began on 27 September 1908, when the side arrived in England. They played their first Ashes Test against Great Britain (despite being called England) in December in London, with two further tests played. The vast majority of subsequent series were played as a best of three competition.

In 1911–12 and 1921–22, the Australia team included New Zealand players so were styled "Australasia" for these series.

In the 1929–30 Ashes series both teams won one game and one game was drawn, so a further match was held to determine the outcome.

In 1948, Greater Britain officially adopted the name after being named "Northern Union XIII", "England", and "The Lions" on previous tours.

Since 1964 the Harry Sunderland Medal is awarded to the best Australian player in a home Ashes series.

Great Britain's last win was in 1970. Australia won 13 consecutive Ashes, 5 of those (1979, 1982, 1984, 1986 and 2003) being 3–0 series wins, and saw a record 15 game winning streak between 1978 and 1988 which was ended by a famous third test victory for Great Britain in Sydney by 26–12.

The 1982 Kangaroos became the first side to go through a tour of Great Britain and France undefeated (something never achieved on a Lions tour, though they came close in 1954 losing just 2 games). This earned the team the nickname "The Invincibles". The 1986 Kangaroos repeated this feat and would be known as "The Unbeatables".

In 1997 a Super League Test series of three matches between Great Britain and Australia was played with the Australia side being made up of Super League aligned players, however this is not considered an Ashes series.

The Ashes were contested only twice after this, in 2001 and 2003, both won by Australia.

Hiatus

In 2009 with the prospect of not contesting them until after the 2013 World Cup, Britain's Rugby Football League (RFL) challenged the Australian Rugby League (ARL) to play the round-robin stage match of the Four Nations tournament with the Ashes at stake. The one-off game would be a departure from the usual three-match series, additionally the contest would be between England, rather than Great Britain, and Australia.[5] The ARL initially agreed to the proposal but later, facing hostility from former Ashes players and fans who thought the proposals devalued the Ashes, the two governing bodies decided not to proceed.[6][7][8]

In 2016, newly appointed Australian team coach Mal Meninga, who as a player was selected to a record 4 Kangaroo Tours (the last two as captain) and played in a record 6 Ashes series (1982, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1992 and 1994 - playing a record 17 Ashes tests, only missing 1988 through injury), publicly advocated for a return of the Kangaroo Tours which would see The Ashes revived in 2020.[9] The proposed 2020 series was cancelled in June 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[10][11] It was suggested that the series may instead be played in 2022;[10][11] however, this never eventuated. In October 2022, Meninga stated that talks were underway for a potential Ashes tour of England in 2024.[12]

Revival: Australia vs England

Australia's Nathan Cleary kicking off first test of the modern Ashes era at Wembley Stadium in 2025

On 3 August 2023, the revival of The Ashes was announced by International Rugby League as part of their new 7-year international calendar and long-term strategy for growth of the international game. The revamped competition was also scheduled to feature a women's test series for the first time,[b] with the first edition to take place in 2025 (though this was later cancelled).[13][14]

On 26 March 2025, the inaugural edition of the modern Ashes series confirmed by the Rugby Football League, with matches held at Wembley Stadium, Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium, and Headingley, with all three matches shown on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.[15]

Ahead of the 2025 event, the RFL and ARLC announced a new player of the series award, the Fulton-Reilly award, named after Ashes legends Bob Fulton and Mal Reilly.[16] The inaugural awarded was won by Cameron Munster.[17]

The 2025 Ashes was spectated by 132,418 proving to be one of the most popular international rugby league events in recent times in the United Kingdom. The series also ranked third in the most spectated Ashes series held in the UK after 1990 and 1994.[18] Australia won the series 3–0, with the next Ashes to be played in 2028.[19]

Trophy

In 1928, the City Tattersalls Club in Sydney, Australia donated a trophy to be the prize, the "Ashes Cup".[2] The Cup's inscription reads:[2]

INTERNATIONAL
RUGBY LEAGUE FOOTBALL
Australia v England
(THE ASHES)
Presented by
CITY TATTERSALLS CLUB

The Cup was first presented in 1928 to The Lions, after they defeated Australia 2–1 in the series.[2] Following the 1933–34 series, in which England retained the Cup for the third time since first being presented with it, the Cup disappeared in the United Kingdom and was not found until October 1945.[20] The trophy had been on display at a function in Ilkley, Yorkshire and afterwards was returned to the manager of the Griffin Hotel, Leeds - where the English Rugby League management met - but this was not made clear to the English authorities and instead in laid overlooked in a box for 12 years.[20] During the period it was missing, Great Britain had won each series and the Cup's disappearance was not widely known.[2] The Australian team first won the Cup in 1950.[2]

In preparation for the Legends of League exhibition at the National Museum of Australia in 2008, marking a Centenary of Rugby League in Australia, the Ashes Cup underwent preservation work.[21]

Results

Year Winner Result Runners-up Host country
1908–09  Great Britain (1) 2–0
(1 tied) 		 Australia Great Britain
1910  Great Britain (2) 2–0    Australasia[a] Australia
1911–12    Australasia[a](1) 2–0
(1 tied) 		 Great Britain Great Britain
1914  Great Britain (3) 2–1  Australia Australia
1920  Australia (2) 2–1  Great Britain Australia
1921–22  Great Britain (4) 2–1    Australasia[a] Great Britain
1924  Great Britain (5) 2–1  Australia Australia
1928  Great Britain (6) 2–1  Australia Australia
1929–30  Great Britain (7) 2–1
(1 tied) 		 Australia Great Britain
1932  Great Britain (8) 2–1[22]  Australia Australia
1933  Great Britain (9) 3–0  Australia Great Britain
1936  Great Britain (10) 2–1  Australia Australia
1937  Great Britain (11) 2–1  Australia Great Britain
1946  Great Britain (12) 2–0
(1 tied) 		 Australia Australia
1948  Great Britain (13) 3–0  Australia Great Britain
1950  Australia (3) 2–1  Great Britain Australia
1952  Great Britain (14) 2–1  Australia Great Britain
1954  Australia (4) 2–1  Great Britain Australia
1956  Great Britain (15) 2–1  Australia Great Britain
1958  Great Britain (16) 2–1  Australia Australia
1959  Great Britain (17) 2–1  Australia Great Britain
1962  Great Britain (18) 2–1  Australia Australia
1963  Australia (5) 2–1  Great Britain Great Britain
1966  Australia (6) 2–1  Great Britain Australia
1967  Australia (7) 2–1  Great Britain Great Britain
1970  Great Britain (19) 2–1  Australia Australia
1973  Australia (8) 2–1  Great Britain Great Britain
1974  Australia (9) 2–1  Great Britain Australia
1978  Australia (10) 2–1  Great Britain Great Britain
1979  Australia (11) 3–0  Great Britain Australia
1982  Australia (12) 3–0  Great Britain Great Britain
1984  Australia (13) 3–0  Great Britain Australia
1986  Australia (14) 3–0  Great Britain Great Britain
1988  Australia (15) 2–1  Great Britain Australia
1990  Australia (16) 2–1  Great Britain Great Britain
1992  Australia (17) 2–1  Great Britain Australia
1994  Australia (18) 2–1  Great Britain Great Britain
2001  Australia (19) 2–1  Great Britain Great Britain
2003  Australia (20) 3–0  Great Britain Great Britain
2020 Series cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[11] England
2025  Australia (21) 3–0  England England

Records and statistics

Played Won by
Australia 		Won by
Great Britain/England 		Drawn
All Series 40 21 (52.5%) 19 (47.5) 0 (0%)
Series in Australia 19 9 (47.4%) 10 (52.6%) 0 (0%)
Series in Great Britain/England 21 12 (57.1%) 9 (42.9%) 0 (0%)
All Tests 120 62 (51.7%) 54 (45%) 4 (3.3%)
Tests in Australia 59 30 (50.8%) 28 (47.5%) 1 (1.7%)
Tests in Great Britain/England 61 32 (52.5%) 26 (42.6%) 3 (4.9%)

Highest attendance

Lowest attendance

Highest attended Ashes series

  • Australia – 179,816 in 1954
  • Great Britain – 140,432 in 1994

Lowest attended Ashes series

  • Australia – 60,000 in 1910
  • Great Britain – 33,000 in 1908–09

Highest score

Biggest win

Most tries in an Ashes test

Most goals in an Ashes test

Most points in an Ashes test

Most points in an Ashes series

Most points in all Ashes tests

  • Australia
    108 (9 tries, 37 goals) by Mal Meninga (17 tests – 1982–1994)
  • Great Britain
    62 (31 goals) by Jim Sullivan (15 tests – 1924–1933)

Tries in each test of an Ashes series

Most games as captain

Most games as coach

Clean Sweeps

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d The Australasia rugby league team competed in the 1910, 1911–12, 1921–22 Ashes series instead of the Australia national team. The side was made up of mostly Australian players but bolstered by a number of players from New Zealand. Despite this, all appeance and scoring statistics went towards the Australian national team.
  2. ^ There had been previous women's Ashes test series, but this was never an established regular competition.

References

  1. ^ Hickey, Julia (2006). Understanding Rugby League. UK: Coachwise. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-905540-10-5. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Sean Fagan (15 September 2009). "Rugby league's fight for The Ashes". rl1908.com. Archived from the original on 23 September 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  3. ^ McCann, Liam (2006). Rugby: Facts, Figures and Fun. UK: AAPPL Artists' and Photographers' Press. p. 80. ISBN 9781904332541.
  4. ^ "Southern hemisphere to host 2026 World Cup". BBC Sport. 3 August 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  5. ^ "English chief calls for return of league Ashes". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 3 September 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2018.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  6. ^ "Ashes brought back to life" skysports.com (4 September 2009)
  7. ^ Steve Mascord (16 September 2009). "Ashes set for 2010?". RugbyLeague.com. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  8. ^ "RFL scrap Ashes plan". RugbyLeague.com. 15 September 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  9. ^ Mascord, Steve (20 November 2016). "Four Nations final 2016: Kangaroo Tours are back after success in England". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  10. ^ a b "Revived Ashes series in England cancelled 'with great reluctance'". The Guardian. 1 June 2020. Archived from the original on 1 June 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  11. ^ a b c "England v Australia rugby league series cancelled". France24. AFP. 1 June 2020.
  12. ^ "Ashes to Ashes: Meninga eyes iconic series return for first time in 20 years". The Age. 16 October 2022. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  13. ^ "Reduced Rugby League World Cup to take place in 2026". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  14. ^ "2026 Rugby League World Cup to be hosted in southern hemisphere". The Independent. 3 August 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  15. ^ "England v Australia: Rugby league Ashes series returns in 2025". BBC Sport. 26 March 2025. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  16. ^ https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/ashes-player-of-the-series-award-announced-as-nrl-immortal-and-castleford-tigers-legend-recognised
  17. ^ "Cameron Munster claims Fulton-Reilly Award as Ashes standout – Total Rugby League". Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  18. ^ "2025 Rugby League Ashes Series sets new attendance record as overall ranking confirmed". LoveRugbyLeague. 10 November 2025. Retrieved 14 November 2025.
  19. ^ "Rugby League Ashes: Is revived England v Australia series here to stay?". BBC Sport. 8 November 2025. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  20. ^ a b "RL "Ashes" Cup". The Telegraph. 26 October 1945. p. 8 (CITY FINAL) – via National Library of Australia.
  21. ^ NMA (22 February 2008). "League of Legends: 100 years of Rugby League in Australia: Conservation slideshow". National Museum of Australia. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  22. ^ "League "Ashes." England's triumph". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 29,496. 18 July 1932. p. 6.

Further reading

allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_league_Ashes