SEVERAL of South Africa’s players preparing for this year’s Autumn Nations Series were there. So too was British & Irish Lions star Henry Pollock, fresh from helping Northampton Saints go top of the Gallagher Premiership with victory over Saracens the night before.
Even the Sunday Times‘ esteemed rugby union correspondent Stephen Jones was among the press pack, typing up his observations for the following day’s print edition and website, while there were several English club and national team shirts representing the 15-a-side code which could be spotted among the 60,812 crowd at Wembley for the return of rugby league’s Ashes.
As recently as just over three decades ago, such association with league would have resulted in ostracism for having been tainted by professionalism.
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Indeed, ITV Border‘s Lucy Anderson wrote a day earlier about 16 Scottish players who were exiled for crossing the sport’s divide as examined in the documentary, The Untold Story of the Rugby Codebreakers.
Since union was declared ‘open’ in 1995, players have been free to swap codes as they please. Players such as Mark Nawaqanitawase, who became Australia’s 49th dual-code international when he made his Kangaroos debut on the wing in Saturday’s 26-6 victory over England.
“It was special,” Nawaqanitawase said. “They’re a good team to come up against.
“They were very physical and I felt that from the start. But, like I said, it was special to run around with the boys in my team.
“They’re very talented and we’re very grateful to get the win.”
It has been quite an 18 months for Nawaqanitawase, scorer of six tries in 11 appearances for the Kangaroos’ union counterparts the Wallabies, after joining Sydney Roosters from Super Rugby outfit the Waratahs.
A try-scoring NRL debut against South Sydney Rabbitohs in September last year was followed by the 25-year-old crossing the whitewash 24 times in 23 appearances for the Roosters, making him the competition’s leading try-scorer.
Clubmate Angus Crichton, who grabbed two tries at Wembley as Australia took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series against England, hopes the Ashes will serve to raise the profile of the 13-a-side code on these shores as well as show other union players there opportunities for them in the code, even amid the looming spectre of R360.
“I love it,” Crichton said. “I think it’s a great concept for rugby league, especially over here where it’s probably a bit more union-dominated.
“A lot of union guys will be tuned in today to see the great sport that is rugby league, and I think we would have won a few over tonight.
“I think we might be turning a few union players and a few union fans, maybe get some of those boys in the green and gold.”
Of course, what would really do wonders for profile of rugby league in the UK would be England wresting the Ashes trophy back from Australia for the first time in 55 years – a task which just got even harder now Shaun Wane’s side are in a must-win situation heading into this Saturday’s second Test in Liverpool.
The iconic Ashes-winning Great Britain tourists of 1970 contained three cross-code Welshmen in Terry Price, Clive Sullivan and Tony Fisher, while Syd Hynes also played union for the Leeds branch of the National and Local Government Officers’ Assocation before pulling on the blue and amber of his home city’s league team.
England’s team these days is almost entirely born-and-bred in the league tradition, but for Nawaqanitawase, who has been linked with a switch back after the 2026 season to push for a chance to represent the Wallabies in a home World Cup the following year, his international debut was as good as anything he had done in the other code.
“It’s up there,” Nawaqanitawase said. “At any Test level, the crowd is loud, the game is fast, and that’s what I felt out there.
“I’m living the dream. I can’t complain and I’ve just got to keep enjoying it.”
England vs Australia rugby league Ashes results and fixtures (all 2.30pm UK time)
October 25 – England 6 Australia 26 (Wembley Stadium, London)
November 1 – Second Test, Hill Dickinson Stadium (Liverpool)
November 8 – Third Test, AMT Headingley (Leeds)