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The home side's attacking frailties were exposed and punished by a ruthless Australia as the visitors swept to a surprisingly comfortable victory in the opening Test of the Ashes.

Shaun Wane’s side had spoken effusively about their motivation going into the first Ashes for over two decades, and they were definitely full of endeavour at Wembley. Yet, in the key instances, it was the world champions who showed more composure in front of a record attendance for an Ashes Test in the United Kingdom of more than 60,000.

Brilliant Performance from Walsh

Guided by an outstanding display in attack and defence from Brisbane Broncos’ Reece Walsh, the Kangaroos were deserving and convincing victors in the first match of the three-match series, meaning the hosts must win at Goodison Park next Saturday to sustain their hopes of a first Ashes win since the 1970s.

England will have to be significantly improved with the possession if they are to accomplish that goal. On several instances in the opening period, the hosts found themselves in advantageous situations but they were unable to cross for any tries. That was in large measure thanks to Walsh, who executed two wonderful turnovers.

Crucial Plays of the Match

The first occurred as Farnworth seemed destined to put Dom Young in for what would have been the opening try, then the fullback stopped Mikey Lewis as half-time neared. By then, the Kangaroos had gone ahead as Reece Walsh himself completed a wonderful move.

Cleary added the extras before adding a two-pointer on the stroke of the interval to establish a eight-point advantage. It was a significant moment, as was the score for Angus Crichton soon after the restart which made it fourteen to nil in favour of the visitors. The hosts now had to score three times and that seemed to stifle their momentum.

If there were any doubt about the winners, they were decisively settled with 15 minutes to go. Munster's line break was backed up by Crichton, who broke through Jack Welsby for the Kangaroos' third score.

That made it twenty to zero and there was added disappointment in the final minutes as Reece Walsh completed another scintillating attack, taking advantage of a tired and clearly exhausted English defense for his second.

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 being held to nil. Nonetheless, there are many issues for Wane to address going into what is now a must-win match next Saturday.

• England: Welsby; Young, Farnworth, Wardle, Johnstone; Williams, Lewis; Havard, Clark, Lees, Bateman, Pearce-Paul, Knowles.
• Interchange: Litten, Walmsley, Trout, McMeeken.
• Tries: Daryl Clark.
• Conversion: Lewis.

• Australia: Walsh; Nawaqanitawase, Staggs, Shibasaki, Addo-Carr; Munster, Cleary; Carrigan, Grant, Fa’asuamaleaui, Crichton, Young, Yeo.
• Bench: Reserves.
• Scores: Reece Walsh (two), Angus Crichton (two).
• Goals: Nathan Cleary (five).