England rugby league captain George Williams has stated an uncomfortable but inescapable truth that perhaps seemed blindingly obvious to most outsiders.
Speaking with BBC Sport the current Warrington—and future Dolphins—playmaker was honest about the Ashes series which has already been lost going into the third and final Test in Leeds.
Despite securing series wins over both Tonga and Samoa in the past two years, England has been unable to challenge an Australian line-up that has barely been out of second gear itself, and Williams acknowledged his side simply hasn’t been good enough.
“We’re not making excuses,” the 31-year-old said.
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“We’ve had enough sessions to get it right on the field, and I don't think we’ve quite done that,” Williams added.
“Credit to Australia, they were good defensively. But we’ve got loads to work on—we’re probably not as good as we thought we were going into this series.”
A year out from the 2026 Rugby League World Cup in Australia and Papua New Guinea, Williams described the Ashes series defeat as ‘a good reality check’.
“There is loads to improve on,” he said.
England face Australia in the third and final Ashes Test this weekend at Headingley in Leeds. Kick off Sunday 1.30am (AEDT).