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

The England coach's side had talked at length about their drive going into the first Ashes for over two decades, and they were definitely full of endeavour at Wembley. However, in the crucial moments, it was the world champions who showed more composure in front of a record attendance for an series match in the UK of over sixty thousand spectators.

Brilliant Performance from Reece Walsh

Guided by an outstanding showing in offense and defense from Brisbane Broncos’ Reece Walsh, the Kangaroos were deserving and convincing victors in the opening Test of the three-game contest, meaning England must triumph at Goodison Park next weekend to keep alive their hopes of a first Ashes win since 1970.

They 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 promising positions but they were failed to score for any tries. That was in large measure thanks to Walsh, who pulled off two wonderful turnovers.

Crucial Plays of the Match

The initial came as Farnworth seemed destined to put Dom Young in for what would have been the first score, then Walsh denied Mikey Lewis as half-time approached. By then, the Kangaroos had taken the lead 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 point, as was the score for Crichton shortly 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.

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

That made it twenty to zero and there was further humiliation in the closing stages as Walsh completed another breathtaking move, exploiting a tired and clearly exhausted England defense for his second.

Match Result and Outlook

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. However, there are many issues for the coach to address going into what is now a do-or-die Test next weekend.

• Home Side: Welsby; Young, Farnworth, Wardle, Johnstone; Williams, Lewis; Havard, Clark, Lees, Bateman, Pearce-Paul, Knowles.
• Interchange: Litten, Walmsley, Trout, McMeeken.
• Try: Daryl Clark.
• Goal: Mikey Lewis.

• Australia: Walsh; Nawaqanitawase, Staggs, Shibasaki, Addo-Carr; Munster, Cleary; Carrigan, Grant, Fa’asuamaleaui, Crichton, Young, Yeo.
• Bench: Dearden, Collins, Cotter, Koloamatangi.
• Scores: Walsh 2, Crichton 2.
• Kicks: Cleary 5.