🔗 Share this article

The home side's offensive weaknesses were laid bare and capitalized on by a ruthless Australia as the visitors secured a worryingly straightforward win in the first match of the rugby league Ashes series.

The England coach's team had talked at length about their motivation going into the first Ashes for 22 years, and they were definitely full of endeavour at Wembley. Yet, in the crucial moments, it was the world champions who showed more composure in front of a historic crowd for an Ashes Test in the United Kingdom of over sixty thousand spectators.

Brilliant Display from Walsh

Guided by an outstanding display in attack and defence from Brisbane Broncos’ Walsh, Australia were deserving and convincing victors in the opening Test of the three-match series, meaning the hosts must win at Goodison Park next weekend to keep alive their hopes of a series victory since 1970.

England will have to be significantly improved with the ball if they are to achieve that. On several instances in the first half, 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 Walsh, who pulled off two superb turnovers.

Key Moments of the Match

The first came as Herbie Farnworth seemed destined to put Young in for what would have been the opening try, then the fullback denied Lewis as half-time neared. By then, the Australians had gone ahead as Reece Walsh himself completed a wonderful play.

Cleary added the extras before adding a two-pointer on the stroke of the interval to establish a two-score advantage. It was a pivotal point, as was the try for Crichton soon after the restart which made it 14-0 in favor of the visitors. England now had to cross the line thrice and that seemed to stifle their momentum.

Should there have been uncertainty about the victors, they were decisively settled with 15 minutes to go. Cameron Munster’s line break was supported by Angus Crichton, who broke through Welsby for Australia’s third try.

That made it 20-0 and there was added disappointment in the final minutes as Walsh finished another breathtaking move, exploiting a tired and visibly shot English defensive line for his second.

Final Score and Looking Ahead

By then, local supporters had begun to filter out and many did not see Daryl Clark’s late try, which at least avoided the home side finishing scoreless. Nonetheless, there are many issues for the coach to address going into what is now a do-or-die Test next weekend.

• England: Full team lineup.
• Interchange: Litten, Walmsley, Trout, McMeeken.
• Tries: Clark.
• Goal: Mikey Lewis.

• Visitors: Starting lineup.
• Bench: Dearden, Collins, Cotter, Koloamatangi.
• Tries: Walsh 2, Crichton 2.
• Kicks: Cleary 5.