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Consign my Ashes try to history – Davies’ England challengeTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.This video can not be playedMedia caption,Watch: Rugby League Ashes 1994 – Jonathan Davies, Shaun Edwards and Cliff RichardByMike WhalleyBBC Sport senior journalistPublished20 October 2025194 CommentsJonathan Davies has a message for England. “I’d love to see now another try at Wembley so they haven’t got to show mine,” he says.It is a big challenge for Shaun Wane’s side as they get ready to face Australia in London on Saturday, in the first rugby league Ashes Test since 2003.The try that dual code rugby great Davies scored 31 years ago this week was one of the classics, a stunning 50-metre burst for the corner, in a memorable Ashes victory. Great Britain, playing with 12 men for almost an hour, beat the world champions at Wembley.That score, on a wet afternoon in October 1994, was a defining moment – for the scorer, for the sport, even for the BBC’s commentator that day.The triumph it inspired is still heralded now. It’s one that might offer lessons to help Wane’s class of 2025. So how do you compete with the world’s best?”You have to be patient,” Davies says. “Don’t be chasing it. Don’t be pushing passes. Make sure you have a good kicking game. And keep turning the Australians. And then just hang on in there.”It’s a fight, really, and then just try to make the most of your opportunities.”The team of 1994 had plenty of fight. Sometimes a bit too much. But they needed a thirst for battle, because they were up against it from the start.Rugby League Ashes25 October, 1 November, 8 NovemberWembley, Hill Dickinson Stadium, AMT HeadingleyWatch on iPlayerWatch all three Tests live on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and appListen: Rugby League Top 10 podcast’That was a bit surreal – Ellery was a good pal of mine’There are several parallels between 1994 and 2025. As then, the Kangaroos arrive as World Cup holders and favourites. The first Test is at Wembley. And the build-up has been overshadowed by a head coach called Mal leaving for an Australian club job.This time around, Australia lost their boss. Mal Meninga, the captain in 1994, stepped down in June to join new NRL franchise Perth Bears. Kevin Walters – a member of the ’94 touring party, though he didn’t play in the Tests – has stepped in.”Yeah, I don’t think that’s an issue for Australia,” says Martin Offiah, the legendary winger who was a Great Britain team-mate of Davies in 1994.”They’ve got Gorden Tallis in as their assistant, their cultural guide, who brings them all together. At international level, with the quality they’ve got, there are probably 100 people they could get to coach Australia and still be quite confident.”Wind the clock back 31 years and it was Great Britain in the midst of a shake-up.Just two months before the first Test, Mal Reilly ended his seven-year reign to head down under and join Newcastle Knights.His replacement was a rugby supersta…
Published: 2025-10-20T06:00:55
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