Great excitement over Wane's moment of reckoning

HISTORY beckons for Shaun Wane’s England side as the first rugby league Ashes series since 2003 kicks off at Wembley this afternoon.

- by MARK PEARSON

The England head coach has had to wait a long time for this series - when Wane took the job in 2020, there was an Ashes series on the horizon that autumn, only for the pandemic to make it a nonstarter.

England’s only appearance in the capital under Wane ended in heartbreak, a golden point loss to Samoa in the World Cup semifinals at the Emirates, the only black mark against Wane’s almost impeccable record in international RL.