Wigan Warriors ace Jake Wardle confident England can respond after Ashes opener
Wigan Warriors centre Jake Wardle believes there is plenty to build on for England as Shaun Wane’s side look to bounce back in the second Test following their 26-6 defeat to Australia at Wembley in the Ashes opener.
Kevin Walters’ Kangaroos led 8-0 at half-time in the capital before going on to score 18 points in the second half before Daryl Clark scored a consolation for England late on.
For Wardle, the key now is about learning from what went wrong and fine-tuning their execution on the chances they did create, with the Wigan centre backing his country to respond with a stronger display in the second Test at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday.
“I think it’s just holding yourself accountable,” said Wardle.
"The standards that we’ve set here at England… some of the stuff we did probably wasn’t at those standards.
"It’s not through lack of effort, it’s just going back to those little moments. I had one, and if I managed to nail that, we might have got a try – you don’t know. But we’re all here to win and we all need to hold ourselves accountable and work on things in training, help each other out, and hopefully we’ll be good for this week.”
Whilst the full-time result was disappointing for England, Wardle believes Wane’s side can take some positives from the chances they created against the Kangaroos.
"There are a lot of positives to take out of the game,” Wardle explained. “Those little moments – if I make the pass or don’t make it, there’s potentially a try there. When Tom (Johnstone) kicks it, you’re a bounce away from scoring. Those chances come few and far between, so we need to make sure we nail them.”
Speaking post-match at Wembley, England coach Wane admitted that some of his players looked nervous, and whilst the hosts were troubled by Australia’s speed, including a superstar showing from Reece Walsh, Wardle believes that experience of the Ashes opener will stand them in good stead for the rest of the series.
"My thoughts going into it were that it was always going to be a quick, intense game,” Wardle added.
"That first couple of minutes, we probably missed our start slightly, so it was even quicker than it probably needed to be as well – it was a bit of a shock to me. But it was the first Test, so hopefully we can get used to it now and go again.”
Tickets for Saturday’s second Test at Hill Dickinson Stadium sold out months in advance, but fans will be able to watch the game live on BBC One, 2:30pm kick-off.