England’s Team Manager Sam Tomkins said their showing in Saturday afternoon’s opening Ashes Test against Australia ‘simply wasn’t good enough’.

Shaun Wane’s side were thumped 26-6 by the Kangaroos at Wembley, failing to impress in front of what was a record crowd for a Rugby League Ashes Test held in the UK.

The hosts trailed only 8-0 at the break, but went on to concede 18 unanswered points in a second half collapse as man-of-the-match Reece Walsh and Angus Crichton tore them apart.

St Helens hooker Daryl Clark was responsible for England‘s only reply, which came just minutes before the end of the clash to spare the embarrassment of being nilled under the arch.

‘What we dished up today just simply wasn’t good enough’

England now face the Aussies at Everton FC’s Hill Dickinson Stadium next Saturday – November 1 – and Headingley on November 8.

Team Manager Tomkins, who also forms part of Wane’s backroom team where coaching is concerned, did not hold back in his assessment of their display in the first Test.

Speaking to Sky Sports post-match at Wembley, the 36-year-old said: “The positive is it’s a three-Test series, and we’ve got next week to prove that we’re better than what we showed today.

“What we dished up today just simply wasn’t good enough.

“We’ve got some very skilful players in our group that quite often, at Super League level, complete any opportunity and today we just didn’t.”

Playing 29 games for England between 2009 and 2022, three-time Super League champion Tomkins – who retired for a second time earlier this year – also enjoyed a stint Down Under in the NRL with the New Zealand Warriors.

All seven of his appearances as a player against Australia ended in defeat, including the opening game of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup in Cardiff.

He continued: “We’re massively disappointed, I’m just gutted that we just didn’t see the best version of this England side.

“We’re not here just to take part, we want to win every game that we are a part of.

“Today we weren’t good enough and we’ve got seven days to dust ourselves down, come up with a game plan and execute better next week.”

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