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The home side's attacking frailties were laid bare and capitalized on by a clinical Australia as the tourists secured a surprisingly comfortable victory 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 over two decades, and they were certainly not short on endeavour at Wembley. However, in the key instances, it was the world champions who displayed more calmness in front of a record attendance for an series match in the United Kingdom of more than 60,000.

Brilliant Performance from Walsh

Led by an exceptional display in offense and defense from Brisbane Broncos’ Reece Walsh, Australia were deserving and convincing winners in the opening Test of the three-match series, meaning England must win at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium next weekend to sustain their hopes of a first Ashes win since the 1970s.

They will have to be significantly improved with the possession if they are to achieve that. On multiple occasions in the first half, the home team found themselves in promising positions but they were unable to cross for any points. That was in large measure thanks to Reece Walsh, who executed two wonderful turnovers.

Key Moments of the Game

The initial occurred as Farnworth seemed certain 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 Australians had taken the lead as Walsh himself finished a excellent play.

Cleary added the extras before adding a two-pointer on the stroke of half-time to establish a two-score advantage. It was a pivotal moment, as was the try for Angus Crichton shortly after the resumption which made it fourteen to nil in favor of the visitors. England now had to score three times and that seemed to stifle 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 supported by 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 finished another breathtaking attack, exploiting a weary and clearly exhausted English defensive line for his second.

Match Result and Looking Ahead

By then, local supporters had begun to filter out and many missed Daryl Clark’s late try, which at least avoided the home side finishing scoreless. Nonetheless, there are plenty of questions for Wane to address going into what is now a do-or-die Test next Saturday.

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

• Visitors: Starting lineup.
• Bench: Dearden, Collins, Cotter, Koloamatangi.
• Tries: Reece Walsh (two), Angus Crichton (two).
• Kicks: Cleary 5.