Rugby league authorities in England have confirmed it will be England, not Great Britain, who will tour Australia in 2025.
New international rugby league structures introduced over the last couple of years have seen the return of international tours.
Tonga toured England last year, and Samoa will do the same this year, before the Lions tour Australia in 2025. The World Cup will be held down under in 2026, before England are slated to play New Zealand in 2027. In all of those years outside of the World Cup year, a pair of tri-series (the Pacific Championships and Bowl) take place in the Pacific with the six remaining teams.
There had been some speculation the Rugby Football League in England were moving towards the rebrandning of Great Britain in time for the tour of Australia in 2025, as they did in 2019 when they toured New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, however, that won't be happening, with a new jersey confirmed for England this week.
โThe next 18 months are going to be an exciting time for international Rugby League, beginning in just over seven weeks' time when our wheelchair team face France before the visit of Samoa," RL Commercial managing director Rhodri Jones said in a statement per TotalRL.com.
โIt promises to be an intense series with England men hoping to avenge the bitter disappointment of their World Cup semi-final defeat in November 2022.
โWe can't wait to see the thousands of passionate England fans in the stands wearing the new shirt both this year and next, especially as we have the Ashes Tours against Australia in 2025, which of course begins with a historic fixture in Las Vegas for England Women against the Jillaroos.โ
The Ashes have not been contested since 2003, when Australia and Great Britain last clashed in a three-match series. On that occasion, Australia hammered Britain 3-0 away from home.
2025 will be the first time Australia have hosted the series since 1992 when it was a 2-1 victory and the Tests were played at the Sydney Football Stadium, Princes Park in Melbourne and Lang Park in Brisbane.
Venues for the 2025 series are yet to be confirmed.
