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The home side's offensive weaknesses were exposed and punished by a ruthless Australian side as the visitors swept to a surprisingly comfortable win 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 the famous stadium. However, in the key instances, it was the world champions who showed more calmness in front of a historic crowd for an series match in the United Kingdom of more than 60,000.

Outstanding Performance from Walsh

Led by an exceptional showing in offense and defense from Brisbane Broncos’ Reece Walsh, Australia were deserving and convincing victors in the first match of the three-match series, meaning England must win at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium next Saturday to keep alive their aspirations of a series victory since 1970.

England will have to be much better with the possession if they are to accomplish that goal. On several instances in the first half, the hosts found themselves in promising positions but they were unable to cross for any points. That was in large measure thanks to Reece Walsh, who pulled off two wonderful interceptions.

Key Moments of the Match

The first 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.

Nathan Cleary added the extras before kicking a two-pointer on the stroke of the interval to open up a two-score advantage. It was a significant moment, as was the score for Crichton shortly after the resumption which made it 14-0 in favor of the Kangaroos. England now had to cross the line thrice and that seemed to stifle their momentum.

Should there have been uncertainty about the winners, they were firmly put to bed with a quarter-hour to go. Cameron Munster’s half-break was backed up by Angus 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 finished another breathtaking move, taking advantage of a weary and visibly shot England defense for his second.

Final Score and Looking Ahead

By then, local supporters had begun to filter out and many missed Clark's late try, which at least prevented the home side being held to nil. Nonetheless, there are plenty of questions for Wane to answer going into what is now a do-or-die Test next weekend.

• England: Full team lineup.
• Substitutes: Bench players.
• Tries: Clark.
• Conversion: Lewis.

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