“A gutting end” – England international recalls World Cup Final heartbreak and gives verdict on how Ashes win can grow British rugby league

St Helens prop Alex Walmsley is one of three players left standing from the last time England faced Australia, and he is now preparing to do it all again, some eight years later.

The 2017 Rugby League World Cup final was the last time the Kangaroos faced off against their historic rivals, in what proved to be one of the most heart-breaking days to be an England fan, as they agonisingly lost 6-0 in an enthralling contest.

Walmsley, alongside Kallum Watkins and John Bateman, are the three that remain in the international set-up who also played in that game, however Watkins will have to wait until at least next week to make his return, after being left out of the 19-man preliminary squad.

But just how different could life have been if not for that one tackle, as Valentine Holmes managed to ankle tap Watkins as he broke free and was looking certain to score. That singular moment changed the rest of the game, and left England wondering what could have been.

Walmsley, who last played for England in 2021, has this week reflected on that World Cup campaign, and revealed that whilst the defeat hurt, they now have a chance to use that despair to their advantage, and motivate themselves to not allow something like that to happen again.

“It was a gutting end to a incredible World Cup,” he said. “The game itself was on a knife edge and we’ve all seen the ankle tap and it forever haunts everyone, that ankle tap on Kal.

“Kal goes through and Elliot [Whitehead]’s on the inside and we go to 6-all, but that was amazing. It was my first real taste of international rugby and we got so close and as a nation.

“We’ve always been so close for such a long time and that’s probably as close as we’ve got for a long time. That’s where those moments and memories, we’ve got to use and turn that, because these games have such a tight margin in them – an ankle tap or an intercept – whatever it is, there’s such a small margin between the win and the loss and we’ve got to make sure that we’re at our very best.

“Hopefully this is an opportunity where we can make those fine margins turn in our way, and it’s us having that fine margin win rather than have the loss.”

England prop has his say on how Ashes series win could develop English rugby league

With an occasion as big as the Ashes, it’s easy to overlook just how important and incredible this three-Test series is for the sport in the Northern Hemisphere.

Clubs such as London are beginning to grow, and Toulouse being back in Super League highlights that expansion does work, it just needs more backing.

A series win would do wonders for the game in this country, with England out to prove their worth, despite not having the same levels of funding and facilities compared to the Australian game.

It is not lost on Walmsley what he and the squad are playing for over the next month, with the Saints enforcer describing what an Ashes win would do for the British game.

“I don’t think you can underestimate how big it would be for our sport,” he said.

“In terms of infrastructures and finances, there’s such a bug gulp between what they have and their product and their finances and money and the enormity of their game over in Australia compared to what we have.

“To do something that’s not been done for 50 years, it’s a real eye-catching moment and a real opportunity to give our sport that silver bullet, not that we desperately need, but what I think we all want and feel our sport deserves.”

He continued: “We deserve to kick on and go to that next level. We’ve got such a fantastic product, and especially to come down here to Wembley and into the south where rugby union is such a dominant sport…to be able to give our sport that we’re proud of that chance to grow out into the next stage of where our sport needs to be, to keep growing, is enormous and there’s a lot of responsibility on us to try and make sure we make that happen.”

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