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The home side's offensive weaknesses were exposed and punished by a ruthless Australian side as the visitors swept to a worryingly straightforward victory in the opening Test of the rugby league Ashes series.

The England coach's team had spoken effusively about their drive going into the opening series for 22 years, and they were certainly not short on effort at Wembley. Yet, in the key instances, it was the reigning title holders who showed more composure in front of a record attendance for an series match in the United Kingdom of more than 60,000.

Outstanding Performance from Walsh

Guided by an exceptional display in attack and defence from club star Walsh, Australia were deserving and convincing winners in the first match of the three-match series, meaning England must triumph at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium next Saturday to sustain their aspirations of a first Ashes win since the 1970s.

England will have to be significantly improved with the ball if they are to achieve that. On multiple occasions in the first half, the hosts 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 pulled off two wonderful interceptions.

Key Moments of the Match

The first occurred as Herbie Farnworth seemed certain to put Dom Young in for what would have been the opening try, then Walsh stopped Lewis as the break neared. By then, the Australians had gone ahead as Reece Walsh himself completed a excellent play.

Nathan Cleary converted before adding a penalty on the stroke of half-time to open up a eight-point lead. It was a significant point, as was the score for Crichton shortly after the restart which made it 14-0 in favour of the Kangaroos. The hosts now had to score three times and that seemed to halt their drive.

If there were any doubt about the winners, they were firmly put to bed with 15 minutes to go. Cameron Munster’s line break was backed up by Angus Crichton, who broke through Welsby for Australia’s third try.

That made it twenty to zero and there was added disappointment in the final minutes as Reece Walsh completed another breathtaking attack, taking advantage of a weary and visibly shot English defensive line for his second try.

Final Score and Looking Ahead

By then, home fans had begun to filter out and many missed Daryl Clark’s consolation, which at least avoided England finishing scoreless. However, there are many issues for the coach to address going into what is now a must-win Test next weekend.

• Home Side: Welsby; Young, Farnworth, Wardle, Johnstone; Williams, Lewis; Havard, Clark, Lees, Bateman, Pearce-Paul, Knowles.
• Substitutes: Bench players.
• Tries: Clark.
• Goal: Lewis.

• Visitors: Walsh; Nawaqanitawase, Staggs, Shibasaki, Addo-Carr; Munster, Cleary; Carrigan, Grant, Fa’asuamaleaui, Crichton, Young, Yeo.
• Interchange: Reserves.
• Tries: Walsh 2, Crichton 2.
• Kicks: Nathan Cleary (five).