Wounded England will be playing for pride in Saturday’s final Ashes Test against Australia, captain George Williams says.
Australia have won the first two games of the three-match series, but Williams has dismissed suggestions the Headingley finale is a dead rubber, insisting it would be “embarrassing” to lose 3-0.
“We’re going to try to get some pride back,” the skipper vowed. “We don’t want to be embarrassed 3-0.
“The squad is a lot better this series, we have improved so much and hopefully we can get one on the board.
“It’s a massive series and a massive event in this country, so we’ve got to get some pride back in the jersey.”
Headingley’s relatively small capacity made it a controversial choice for the third game, after matches at Wembley and Everton FC’s Hill Dickinson Stadium, but Williams reckons a raucous crowd tomorrow will give England a massive lift.
After being second best in the series opener, which they lost 26-6, England took the game to Australia in the second encounter and were on top for much of the opening 40 minutes.
The sides went in all square at the break, but the Kangaroos scored two tries in five minutes soon afterwards to take total control en-route to a 14-4 success.
Being “better in good ball” – attacking near Australia’s line – is the key area for improvement this week, according to Williams.
He said: “We gave a good account of ourselves in the first half, but the second half was similar to the week before.
“We started slow, they scored two tries and that was the game. At this level you get stung if you are a little bit off and that’s what happened.
“I was proud of the performance, but it wasn’t quite good enough. Credit to Australia, they defended us really well.
“We didn’t really break them down much so that’s something we’ve got to work on. We got our plan right, kicking into corners and defending well, but we probably lacked a bit of quality and detail in good ball.
“There were some promising signs, but against a team as good as they are, if you’re not quite on with the ball it shows.”
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Eric T Cat
November 7, 2025 at 1:36 pm
England never looked like scoring, they could have carried on over halftime while the Aussies had a break and I doubt they’d have scored then! Australia have barely broken a sweat, frankly they don’t look that good. They’re overthinking their plays too much, if they fell back on the basics they’d rip England to shreds. George Williams has not posed any threat whatsoever. Any attacking flair has come from Jez Litten, Dom Young and Tom Johnstone, and Herbie Farnworth. The wingers have been by far and away the best players. Brimson at 1, Lewis at 6, Smith at 7, Litten at 9, get Smithies on the pitch, and sack Shaun Wane at the earliest opportunity possible. Thinking ahead, coach for the Workd Cup, throw a name in the mix, someone with wide experience across Rugby League, Justin Morgan maybe?