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England's offensive weaknesses were exposed and punished by a ruthless Australian side as the visitors secured a surprisingly comfortable win in the opening Test of the rugby league Ashes series.

Shaun Wane’s team had talked at length about their motivation going into the opening series for 22 years, and they were certainly not short on endeavour at Wembley. Yet, in the crucial moments, it was the reigning title holders who showed more calmness in front of a historic crowd for an Ashes Test in the United Kingdom of more than 60,000.

Brilliant Performance from Walsh

Led by an outstanding showing in attack and defence from club star Reece Walsh, Australia were worthy and comfortable victors in the first match of the three-game contest, meaning England must triumph at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium next Saturday to sustain their hopes of a first Ashes win since 1970.

England will have to be much better with the ball if they are to achieve that. On several instances in the opening period, the home team found themselves in promising positions but they were unable to cross for any points. That was in no small part thanks to Reece Walsh, who executed two superb turnovers.

Crucial Plays of the Game

The first came as Herbie Farnworth seemed destined to put Young in for what would have been the opening try, then the fullback stopped Mikey Lewis as the break neared. By then, the Kangaroos had gone ahead as Walsh himself finished a wonderful move.

Cleary added the extras before kicking a penalty on the stroke of the interval to establish a eight-point advantage. It was a significant point, as was the score for Crichton soon after the restart which made it 14-0 in favour of the Kangaroos. The hosts now had to cross the line thrice and that seemed to stifle their drive.

If there were any doubt about the victors, they were decisively settled with 15 minutes to go. Cameron Munster’s line break was backed up by Angus Crichton, who pushed past Jack Welsby for Australia’s third try.

That made it 20-0 and there was further humiliation in the final minutes as Walsh finished another breathtaking attack, exploiting a weary and visibly shot England defense for his second.

Match Result and Outlook

By then, local supporters had begun to leave early and many missed Daryl Clark’s late try, which at least prevented the home side being held to nil. Nonetheless, there are plenty of questions for Wane to answer going into what is now a must-win Test next Saturday.

• Home Side: Full team lineup.
• Interchange: Bench players.
• Tries: Daryl Clark.
• Goal: Mikey Lewis.

• Australia: Walsh; Nawaqanitawase, Staggs, Shibasaki, Addo-Carr; Munster, Cleary; Carrigan, Grant, Fa’asuamaleaui, Crichton, Young, Yeo.
• Bench: Reserves.
• Scores: Walsh 2, Crichton 2.
• Kicks: Cleary 5.