When England head coach, Shaun Wane described watching his players’ performance on Saturday as “torture”, it may have been the first thing he’d said all autumn which the rugby league fanbase could agree on. Especially for the 20 minutes immediately following half-time.

England had surprised everyone in the first half by matching Australia’s physicality man for man. Had either the touch judges or the video referee spotted the forward pass in the build up to Reece Walsh’s first try, the visitors would have only led 2-0 at the break. 

However, for all the good of the first half, England became masters of their own downfall in the second half with what can only be described as a collective brain-fade. Nowhere was this more obvious than when several players stood back and allowed Angus Crichton probably the easiest try of his career, a free jog to the line from 40 metres out. From that moment, England entered a free-fall period where a catalogue of defensive errors built up, compounded by some moments of magic from a purring Australian backline, to the inevitable and all too familiar soul-sinking result. 

The Forward Pack

By far England’s biggest problem on Saturday was the lack of forward momentum generated by the pack. Indeed it can be argued that, barring selecting an unfit fullback, all the issues the hosts had to face on the field stemmed from this. Regardless of which code of Rugby it is, the problem is just the same: without a strong platform provided by the pack, the halfbacks cannot do their jobs properly. If the halfbacks are shackled, then the rest of the backline might not even be able to live off scraps. The subsequent pressure and inevitable desperation to create something from nothing manifested itself in the number of handling errors made. To say it was frustrating watching in the stands would be an understatement and those feelings were best displayed through an increasingly agitated Sam Tomkins, as he barked instructions to the team on the pitch. 

Alex Walmsley was the only front-row player to occasionally break through the line but, only being utilised these days as an impact sub from the bench, was only one for a matter of minutes at a time. Ethan Havard, Owen Trout and Matty Lees all struggled to break through Australia’s line. The problem could not have been highlighted more clearly, than by the sight of winger Dom Young regularly deputising for the props and making the first curry from the rucks. The case for starting Mikolaj Oledzki for Saturday’s game in Liverpool could not be stronger. 

England’s problems went further than the front row as John Bateman struggled to have any impact at all. This should not be surprising as the North Queensland Cowboys man has barely played a handful of games all year. Take your pick between Kallum Watkins or Morgan Smithies to come in and replace him. There’s no denying that Bateman has been a big performer for England down the years, and he was definitely the one being referred to when Shaun Wane made his “credit in the bank” comment about certain players. The coach must carry the can for this, selecting on sentiment alone rarely works in international sport. One need only look at the make up of Australia’s squad to see that the best selection criteria is current form. 

Fullback

Despite all the noise and predictable clamour for changes from various sections of the rugby league fanbase, it would be utterly pointless to make change for the sake of change in a backline which wasn’t given a platform to perform in the first place.

The only position where a change is definitely needed in the backs is that of the last line of defence, the fullback. Now, let me be clear here, this is not a pile-on opportunity against Jack Welsby. 

Putting all club tribalism to one side he has been consistently one of the best fullbacks in England over the past 4 years. It was always one of head coach Shaun Wane’s biggest gambles selecting Welsby for the Ashes, when you consider the months he was forced to sit out on the sidelines for this season because of injury. It’s testament to his commitment to the cause and professionalism that Welsby put his hand up for selection and in the first half he was solid enough. However, with precious little game time since the summer, he was always going to struggle once Australia turned up the wick in the second half. Nowhere was this more evident than Crichton’s above mentioned opening try. 

The simple reality is that Welsby is not fully fit to play more than half a game. As such, it would be unfair on him, first and foremost, if he were to be selected again on Saturday. Gold Coast Titan’s AJ Brimson looks set to be given his debut and take the no.1 jersey, despite the growing chatter coming from Australian media outlets about Farnworth switching to fullback.

Beyond the role of fullback, I would be tempted to keep the rest of the backline the same. In truth, we never got the chance to see what they were capable of, but there was certainly no lack of effort from any of them. 

I’d also be inclined to leave the halves as they are. Without a halfback in the squad who has a brilliant kicking game – which there isn’t, and his bomb and crossfield kicks were sorely missed at Wembley – we’d be gaining little if Mikey Lewis is dropped for Harry Smith. Nothing wrong with Smith per se, but both he and George Williams are very similar in playing style. The Aussies had little trouble keeping the England captain quiet on Saturday, so the thought of facing two will make them lose precisely zero minutes of sleep. The case for keeping Lewis in the side is therefore far stronger than the case for dropping him. If he gets that solid platform to work from, he can and will be able to cause havoc with his natural running and playmaking ability.

Can England still beat Australia on Saturday?

The burning question which has left everyone a little less confident since Saturday. Call me a reckless optimist, but yes – England can still beat Australia on Saturday and take the game to a decider in Leeds.

Can they do it? Let’s be honest, their backs are well and truly up against the wall, and most in the media have already written them off after Saturday’s second half collapse. Changes must be made, though wholesale may do more harm than good. Unless there are any injuries in training this week, I wouldn’t expect more than three changes made to the starting XIII. 

England must have their biggest forward pack playing to give them any chance of creating a solid platform and pushing Australia back. I cannot stress it enough, build a platform for the halves to do their jobs, and then we have a chance. England can sort that out themselves, along with stilling a sense of composure when they have the ball in hand. Cut out the handling errors, and the game will be much closer just by default.

Finally, we, the supporters, must also play a much more vocal role than we did at Wembley. We were too quiet on Saturday, and the silence only played into the hands of Australia. We need to help this England team – show them we’re with them, and most of all that we believe in them. 52,000 fans are expected to converge on the Everton Stadium this weekend, the overwhelming majority (if not entirely) expected to be fans from the Super League heartlands. So bring the noise, people. Every hit, every marginal call, every half chance, get behind our players. It’s now or never, do or die, in the 2025 Rugby League Ashes, and we must all play our part!