England looking for northern stronghold to relight Ashes fire after Wembley letdown

All change. In truth, something had to give following the nature of England’s performance at Wembley last weekend but as Shaun Wane’s side look to send the Ashes to a deciding Test in Leeds next Saturday, there are wholesale changes that the hosts hope will provide a reaction both on and off the field.

Wembley was underwhelming last weekend on multiple fronts. England limped to a fairly miserable 26-6 defeat, in which they showed little of what had been promised in the build-up to a first Ashes series in 22 years. But the atmosphere felt flat, in part due to what Wane’s men delivered, but also due to the fact the stadium wasn’t full.

That changes on Saturday, with Hill Dickinson Stadium sold out months in advance and likely to provide a more boisterous atmosphere, the kind of which should instil some fire into England. Wane admitting this week that returning north represented the chance to play in front of “real rugby league fans” was a Freudian slip, but you sense all involved are relishing the opportunity.

But the England coach has also rung the changes on the pitch too as big-time rugby league returns to Liverpool. Chief among them? The irony of Wane calling on an Australian-born player to salvage the series against the Kangaroos, with AJ Brimson set to be thrown into the heat of battle at full-back for his Test debut on Saturday.

Brimson switched allegiances to England this summer despite representing Queensland at State of Origin level. With an English mother, the 27-year-old spent family holidays in Plymouth and dreamed of honouring that heritage one day. He was forced to watch from the sidelines at Wembley, but is now tasked with salvaging the series.

All of this against the nation who have overlooked him, too. “I’m super-excited,” the Gold Coast Titans player said this week. It’s been a nerve-wracking week but to walk out at this stadium will be incredible. I’ve always loved England, I’ve always loved the England jersey. It’s just something I’ve always wanted to do.

AJ Brimson in action for the Maroons during State of Origin in 2023. Photograph: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

“I know I’ve got to earn the respect of not only the players, but the fans and things like that as well. It’s a big thing, to have an Aussie player come out here and play for their country. There’s been a lot of hurdles to jump through to get to this point but we’ve got here in the end.”

England – or any country, for that matter – selecting heritage players is nothing new. Sydney Roosters’ Victor Radley would have been a pivotal part of the English pack this autumn had he not made himself unavailable, but the circumstances surrounding Brimson’s debut make this pick all the more intriguing.

There has been some consternation in Australia as to why Brimson was not England’s first-choice full-back anyway given how he regularly performs in the NRL. With the hosts in must-win territory, it is now almost solely on his shoulders to try and live up to the significant billing and help England level the series.

“It [last week] puts a bit of a dampener on everything,” Brimson says. “We were training really well and to lose like that is disappointing but there’s two more games and our full focus goes to this Saturday. It’s do or die now, we’ve got to come up with a win. We were a bit nervous and frantic [at Wembley] – we don’t want to die wondering. We have to go after them.”

Brimson replaces St Helens full-back Jack Welsby, who pays the price for a below-par display at Wembley, but that is not the only change. It always looked quite foolish for England not to have at least one warm-up game to allow Wane to decipher what his best team was and there is a strong case to suggest, midway through this series, he still does not know.

England will change their full-back, half-back pairing and hooking rotation for Saturday. Harry Smith will come in at scrum-half to partner George Williams, with Mikey Lewis dropping to the bench to allow Jez Litten to start at hooker. Come 5pm on Saturday, it will either look like a masterstroke or a complete mess in front of a raucous northern crowd that will expect a response.