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The home side's offensive weaknesses were exposed and punished by a ruthless Australia as the visitors swept to a worryingly straightforward win in the opening Test of the Ashes.

Shaun Wane’s side had talked at length about their drive going into the first Ashes for 22 years, and they were definitely full of effort at Wembley. Yet, in the key instances, it was the world champions who showed more calmness in front of a historic crowd for an Ashes Test in the United Kingdom of more than 60,000.

Brilliant Display from Walsh

Led by an outstanding display in attack and defence from Brisbane Broncos’ Reece Walsh, Australia were deserving and convincing winners in the first match of the three-game contest, meaning the hosts must triumph at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium next weekend to sustain their hopes of a first Ashes win since 1970.

England will have to be much better with the possession if they are to achieve that. On several instances in the first half, the hosts found themselves in promising positions but they were unable to cross for any tries. That was in large measure thanks to Walsh, who executed two superb interceptions.

Key Moments of the Match

The initial came as Farnworth seemed destined to put Dom Young in for what would have been the opening try, then the fullback denied Mikey Lewis as half-time approached. By then, the Kangaroos had taken the lead as Walsh himself completed a wonderful move.

Cleary converted before adding a two-pointer on the stroke of the interval to open up a eight-point advantage. It was a pivotal point, as was the try for Angus Crichton soon after the resumption which made it 14-0 in favour of the visitors. England now had to score three times and that seemed to stifle their momentum.

Should there have been uncertainty about the winners, they were firmly put to bed with 15 minutes to go. Cameron Munster’s half-break was supported 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 closing stages as Walsh finished another breathtaking attack, taking advantage of a tired and clearly exhausted English defense for his second try.

Final Score and Looking Ahead

By then, home fans had begun to filter out and many did not see Daryl Clark’s late try, which at least avoided England being held to nil. However, there are many issues for Wane to address going into what is now a must-win Test next Saturday.

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

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