Australia set for first rugby league Ashes tour in 22 years but won’t play in Pacific Championships

Australia will tour England this spring for the first rugby league Ashes series since 2003.

The Australian Rugby League Commission confirmed on Wednesday evening that three Test matches between Australia and England would be held in London, Liverpool and Leeds across three Saturdays from October 25.

The tour will notably feature the first rugby league international at the storied Wembley Stadium since the 2013 World Cup, as well as a clash at the new Everton Stadium that opened in Liverpool last month.

“We are proud to revive one of the great rugby league traditions,” said ARLC chair Peter V’landys of the Ashes.

“The current generation of Kangaroos players have never experienced the magic of a Kangaroos tour, and I’m delighted they will have a chance to cement their own legacy alongside the greats of the past.”

It means Australia is set to miss this year’s yet-to-be-announced Pacific Championships, which are slated to run at a similar time.

The Kangaroos are likely to be replaced on the Pacific Championships program by Samoa after Jarome Luai’s side missed last year’s Test series to embark on their own England tour.

Australia had been due to travel to England for a long-awaited Ashes reboot in 2020 before COVID-19 complications led the series to be cancelled.

The Kangaroos have won the last 13 rugby league Ashes series dating back to 1970, with the series previously contested by Great Britain rather than England.

The Kangaroos won all three Test matches on the most recent tour in 2003 with a squad captained by Brisbane superstar Darren Lockyer and including current Cronulla coach Craig Fitzgibbon.

England vs Australia:

First Test: Saturday 25 October, Wembley Stadium, London

Second Test: Saturday 1 November, Everton Stadium, Liverpool

Third Test: Saturday 8 November, Headingley Stadium, Leeds