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The home side's offensive weaknesses were exposed and punished by a clinical Australian side as the visitors secured a surprisingly comfortable win in the first match of the rugby league Ashes series.

The England coach's side had talked at length about their motivation 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 historic crowd for an series match in the United Kingdom of over sixty thousand spectators.

Brilliant Display from Reece Walsh

Led by an outstanding display in attack and defence from club star Walsh, the Kangaroos were deserving and convincing winners in the first match of the three-game contest, meaning the hosts must triumph at Goodison Park next Saturday to sustain their hopes of a first Ashes win since 1970.

England will have to be significantly improved with the ball if they are to accomplish that goal. On several instances in the opening period, the hosts found themselves in promising positions but they were unable to cross for any tries. That was in no small part thanks to Walsh, who pulled off two superb interceptions.

Key Moments of the Game

The initial came as Herbie Farnworth seemed certain to put Dom Young in for what would have been the opening try, then Walsh stopped Mikey Lewis as half-time neared. By then, the Australians had taken the lead as Walsh himself finished a wonderful play.

Nathan Cleary added the extras before kicking a two-pointer on the stroke of the interval to establish a eight-point advantage. It was a pivotal point, as was the score for Crichton shortly after the restart which made it 14-0 in favor of the Kangaroos. The hosts now had to score three times and that seemed to halt their momentum.

Should there have been uncertainty about the victors, they were decisively settled with a quarter-hour to go. Munster's half-break was backed up by Angus Crichton, who pushed past 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 England defense for his second.

Match Result 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 Wane to address going into what is now a must-win Test next weekend.

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

• Australia: Starting lineup.
• Bench: Reserves.
• Tries: Reece Walsh (two), Angus Crichton (two).
• Kicks: Nathan Cleary (five).