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The home side's offensive weaknesses were exposed and punished by a clinical Australian side as the visitors swept to a surprisingly comfortable victory in the first match of the Ashes.

Shaun Wane’s team had talked at length about their motivation going into the first Ashes for 22 years, and they were certainly not short on endeavour at Wembley. However, in the crucial moments, it was the reigning title holders who displayed more composure in front of a historic crowd for an Ashes Test in the United Kingdom of over sixty thousand spectators.

Brilliant Performance from Walsh

Guided by an exceptional showing in attack and defence from Brisbane Broncos’ Walsh, the Kangaroos were deserving and convincing victors 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 much better with the ball if they are to achieve that. On multiple occasions in the opening period, the hosts found themselves in advantageous situations but they were failed to score for any tries. That was in large measure thanks to Walsh, who executed two superb interceptions.

Key Moments of the Game

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

Nathan Cleary converted before kicking a penalty on the stroke of half-time to establish a two-score lead. It was a significant moment, as was the score for Crichton shortly after the restart which made it 14-0 in favour of the Kangaroos. England now had to score three times and that seemed to halt their drive.

If there were any doubt about the victors, they were decisively settled with a quarter-hour to go. Munster's line break was backed up by Crichton, who pushed past Welsby for Australia’s third try.

That made it twenty to zero and there was further humiliation in the final minutes as Reece Walsh finished another breathtaking attack, exploiting a tired and visibly shot English defense for his second.

Match Result and Outlook

By then, home fans had begun to filter out and many did not see Daryl Clark’s consolation, which at least avoided England finishing scoreless. Nonetheless, there are plenty of questions for Wane to answer going into what is now a must-win Test next weekend.

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

• Australia: Walsh; Nawaqanitawase, Staggs, Shibasaki, Addo-Carr; Munster, Cleary; Carrigan, Grant, Fa’asuamaleaui, Crichton, Young, Yeo.
• Bench: Reserves.
• Scores: Walsh 2, Crichton 2.
• Goals: Nathan Cleary (five).