England boss Shaun Wane believes the atmosphere at Wembley for last weekend’s opening Ashes Test was ‘good’, but says Saturday’s second Test on Merseyside will be ‘packed with real rugby league fans’.
Since the ‘new’ Wembley opened in 2007, England‘s rugby league team had played at the national stadium just twice before last Saturday, which was a game 22 years in the making.
A crowd of 60,812, including plenty of Kangaroos supporters decked out in green and gold, watched opening game in this autumn’s three-Test series, which was comfortably won 26-6 by the tourists.
That is now a record attendance for a Rugby League Ashes game held in the UK, with Wembley’s entire lower bowl sold out.
But questions have still come over whether rugby league is well-placed under the arch or not, with thousands of empty seats still present last weekend and demand for tickets not exactly sky-high.
Shaun Wane weighs in on Wembley debate as verdict delivered following opening Ashes Test
Comparably, both the second and third Tests in this series – in Liverpool and Leeds respectively – sold out almost instantly when tickets went on sale.
As he spoke to the media on Monday afternoon at England’s training base, head coach Wane was asked about the sport’s Wembley conundrum, with attendances always a topic of interest whenever we see a game in the capital.
Wane said: “I thought the atmosphere was good at Wembley.
“I know it wasn’t full, and there’s not many (events) that could fill Wembley, but I thought it was great.
“It was great how it started, but I know at Bramley Moore, that ground is going to be banging.
“It’s going to be packed with real rugby league fans and it’ll be a real Test match.
“The players will enjoy that, but I know they enjoyed the build-up to Wembley as well, being in our capital city.
“It felt like a big game, but as soon as it started, it didn’t feel that way and that’s down to us.”