Jump to content

2025 Kangaroo tour of England and France

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2025 Kangaroo tour
Date25 October 2025 – 8 November 2025
Summary
P W D L
Total
3 0 0 0
Test match
3 0 0 0
Opponent
P W D L
 England
3 0 0 0
Tour chronology
Previous tour2020 (Cancelled)
Next tour–

The 2025 Kangaroo tour of England and France will be 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.[1][2][3] The tour will occur following the conclusions of the domestic seasons in the UK and Australia.[4]

The tour was originally scheduled be a tour of Australia by England.[5] However, in October 2024, talks began regarding moving the tour to England, thus making Australia the tourists.[4]

The tour marks the first time the men's rugby league Ashes has been contested since 2003.[6][7]

Background

[edit]

New international calendar

[edit]
See also: 2026 Rugby League World Cup § Legacy

Following France withdrawing as host and the subsequent cancellation of the 2025 Rugby League World Cup,[8][9] the International Rugby League saw need to revamp the international calendar. The confirmation of the replacement 2026 Rugby League World Cup came with it a selection of new and returning international rugby league competitions and tours between 2025 and 2030, including the return of The Ashes. The tournament return was to begin with England's 2025 tour of Australia, which would see the inaugural women's Ashes be played, and Australia's 2028 tour of England. The 2025 Ashes will be the first since the 2003 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France.[5][10]

Previous Ashes revivals had been planned for 2020[11] and 2024,[12] 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.[13]

Great Britain or England

[edit]
See also: Great Britain national rugby league team

Great Britain were Australia's traditional Ashes opponents, having played against each other from 1908 to 2003. The Great Britain side started to disbanded started with the 1995 Rugby League World Cup in favour of the four home nations playing as individuals sides. 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.[14] 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.[15] A fan poll was conducted in regards to this subject.[16]

Host change

[edit]

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.[4][17] BBC Sport attributed the host change to Australia now hosting the 2026 Rugby League World Cup, originally to be hosted by France in 2025.[18]

Teams

[edit]
IRL Men's World Rankings
Official rankings as of December 2024[19][20]
Rank Change Team Pts %
1 Steady  Australia 100
3 Steady  England 84

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.[21]

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.

Venues

[edit]

Before confirmation of a change of host, it was known Rugby League Commercial were be looking to stage the three tests in Lancashire, London, and Yorkshire.[4] For the Lancashire venue, Wigan Warriors's Brick Community Stadium was reported as one of the favourites[22] along with Everton's Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium.[23] In London, Wembley Stadium and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium were reporting as being the front runners.[23] Finally, Leeds United's Elland Road and Hull FC's MKM Stadium were reported as the likely venues for the Yorkshire match.[24]

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.[25] These venues were confirmed by the RFL on 26 March upon the official announcement of the change of host.[1]

London Liverpool Leeds
Wembley Stadium Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium Headingley
Capacity: 90,000 Capacity: 52,888 Capacity: 19,700
Map
About OpenStreetMaps
Maps: terms of use
90km
56miles
Headingley Stadium
Headingley Stadium
Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium
Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium

Headingley criticism

[edit]

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.[26] 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.[27]

Ticketing

[edit]

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.[1] 30,000 people had signed up for the presale in the first 24 hours,[28] this had rose to 50,000 by the start of presale.[29][30]

Tickets were priced between £30 and £60 depending on category, with an additional £80 category at Wembley.[31]

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.[29][30] By day two of presale, Headingley had sold out completely with over 75,000 tickets sold in total.[32] Everton sold out within hours of general sale,[33] with an estimated fewer than 1,500 tickets available after presale.[34] In May, Rugby League Commercial revealed tickets for Wembley had surpassed 30,000.[35]

Fixtures

[edit]

In March 2025, Australia head coach Mal Meninga revealed in a interview with L'Indépendant that the three fixtures against England had been scheduled for 25 October, 1 November, and 8 November, and talks were in place for a warm up game against France to be played prior to the Ashes.[36] Fixtures against England were confirmed on 26 March.[1]

25 October 2025
14:30 BST (UTC+01:00)
England  v  Australia
Report

Broadcasting

[edit]

All three matches will be shown live on BBC One.[37]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d "Kangaroos to return to England for ABK Beer Ashes Series". www.rugby-league.com.
  2. ^ Bower, Aaron (March 26, 2025). "Oasis promoter behind rugby league's Ashes series return to England" – via The Guardian.
  3. ^ "England v Australia: Rugby league Ashes series returns in 2025". BBC Sport. March 26, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d "Rugby league's 2025 Ashes series makes late switch to England's shores". the Guardian. October 28, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Southern hemisphere to host 2026 World Cup". BBC Sport. August 3, 2023.
  6. ^ "Kangaroos to return to England for ABK Beer Ashes Series". Rugby Football League. 26 March 2025. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  7. ^ "The battle for the Ashes ignites after 22 years". National Rugby League. 26 March 2025. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  8. ^ "France pulls out of hosting Rugby League World Cup". BBC Sport. 15 May 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  9. ^ Bower, Aaron (15 May 2023). "2025 Rugby League World Cup in doubt after France pull out of staging event". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  10. ^ "Reduced Rugby League World Cup to take place in 2026". The Guardian.
  11. ^ "Great Britain and Irish Lions to tour in 2019 and 2024". July 30, 2018 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  12. ^ Davidson, John (October 31, 2022). "'Why can't you have two disciplines of rugby?' - Rugby league plans to join Olympics by 2032". The i Paper.
  13. ^ "Kangaroo tour cancelled but 2022 option being explored". National Rugby League. June 1, 2020.
  14. ^ Bower, Aaron (2024-07-15). "RFL considers reviving Great Britain Lions brand to replace England for tour". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-09-07.
  15. ^ "England Rugby League kit for 2024/25 revealed". www.rugby-league.com. Retrieved 2024-09-07.
  16. ^ Mitchell, Ollie (July 30, 2024). "RFL ask fans' opinion ahead of potential Great Britain Rugby League revival".
  17. ^ "Kangaroos and Jillaroos set to tour England after 2025 season, historic revival comes after 22-year hiatus". Herald Sun. 28 October 2024.
  18. ^ "England v Australia Ashes series in 2025 set to take place". BBC Sport. October 28, 2024.
  19. ^ "INTRL - World Rankings". Rugby League International Federation.
  20. ^ "IRL World Rankings: December 2024". Rugby League International Federation. 19 December 2024.
  21. ^ "Head to Head". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  22. ^ "Wigan named among favourites to host England and Australia for Ashes Test match in 2025". Wigan Today. November 6, 2024.
  23. ^ a b "Huge Premier League stadium in running to host rugby league Ashes Test". Love Rugby League. November 8, 2024.
  24. ^ "Hull FC's MKM Stadium considered for Ashes series venue among marquee stadia". Hull Live. November 8, 2024.
  25. ^ "Ashes venues revealed: Wembley, new Everton FC stadium among picks". Love Rugby League. March 3, 2025.
  26. ^ Cook, Sam (March 4, 2025). "Rugby League fans ask same question after reported Ashes venues revealed".
  27. ^ "Why AMT Headingley was picked as venue for rugby league Ashes decider". Love Rugby League. March 26, 2025.
  28. ^ "2025 Ashes Series ticket interest astronomical as numbers from first 24 hours revealed". Love Rugby League. 27 March 2025.
  29. ^ a b "Rugby League Ashes tickets sales surge past 60,000 in a day". www.rugby-league.com.
  30. ^ a b "First rugby league Ashes sell-out imminent following 'unprecedented' sales". Love Rugby League. 2 April 2025.
  31. ^ "Everything you need to know about ABK Beer Ashes tickets!". www.rugby-league.com.
  32. ^ "England v Australia: Ashes ticket sales surge following 'unprecedented' figures". Wigan Today. 4 April 2025.
  33. ^ "Everton new stadium to set rugby league record with second Ashes sell-out". Love Rugby League. 14 April 2025.
  34. ^ "Second rugby league Ashes sell-out imminent as Wembley setting records". Love Rugby League. 11 April 2025.
  35. ^ "Wembley Ashes ticket sales revealed as interest soars for series". Love Rugby League. 3 May 2025.
  36. ^ "Ashes dates 'revealed' as Australia warm-up game in France on agenda". Love Rugby League. 18 March 2025.
  37. ^ "Historic return of Rugby League Ashes series to be shown on BBC Sport". www.bbc.co.uk.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2025_Kangaroo_tour_of_England_and_France&oldid=1289570306"