England’s Ashes struggles could turn out to be a ‘blessing in disguise’ ahead of the World Cup next year.
That’s the belief of former England hooker Josh Hodgson, who is tipping this series to act as something of a wake up call as they begin to look ahead to next year’s tournament down under.
Shaun Wane’s side currently find themselves 2-0 down in the Ashes series after suffering defeats at Wembley Stadium and Everton’s brand new Hill Dickinson Stadium. Daryl Clark’s last ditch effort against Australia at Wembley remains the only try England have scored in the series, too, with their attack drawing plenty of criticism over the last week and a half.
As such, they know improvements have to come this week if they are to avoid the embarrassment of a 3-0 series whitewash on home soil.
Of course, England have beaten Samoa and Tonga in recent Test series, but they have been some way short of the standard set by Australia this autumn. And, with the 2026 World Cup looming, Hodgson is hopeful that this series could provide an indication of how much work they have to do over the next 12 months.
Josh Hodgson sees Ashes positives for England despite ‘hard to watch’ comment
“Me being an optimist, I think this could be a blessing in disguise for the World Cup next year,” Hodgson said, per Fox Sports.
“It gives us a bit of a gauge on where we are at as a side internationally. We see sides like Tonga and Samoa all looking like good footy sides.
“It gives us a little bit of a wake up call as to the standard we want to get to if we want to beat these top sides.”
On England’s attacking struggles, Hodgson added: “You’re putting your x-factor players in the side. We’ve struggled for points so let’s put someone in the side that has points in them and who will open the game up.
“England will be really disappointed in their attack. It was only one dive over late in the first Test and now in this second Test, we didn’t score a try. They’re not clinical enough with the ball.
“It’s hard to watch. You can see they’re trying but they just look like a team that is very disjointed which is hard to see.
“When you’re trying to chase a game and you’re not used to playing alongside each other, it makes it difficult.”
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