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England's offensive weaknesses were exposed and punished by a clinical Australia as the visitors swept to a surprisingly comfortable victory in the first match of the rugby league Ashes series.

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 the famous stadium. Yet, in the key instances, it was the world champions who displayed more calmness in front of a historic crowd for an Ashes Test in the UK of over sixty thousand spectators.

Outstanding Performance from Walsh

Guided by an outstanding showing in attack and defence from club star Walsh, Australia were deserving and convincing winners in the first match of the three-match series, meaning the hosts must triumph at Goodison Park next weekend to keep alive their hopes of a first Ashes win since the 1970s.

England will have to be significantly improved with the possession if they are to achieve that. On several instances in the opening period, the hosts found themselves in promising positions but they were failed to score for any points. That was in large measure thanks to Reece Walsh, who pulled off two superb turnovers.

Crucial Plays of the Game

The initial came as Farnworth seemed destined to put Dom Young in for what would have been the opening try, then the fullback denied Lewis as the break neared. By then, the Kangaroos had taken the lead as Reece Walsh himself completed a excellent move.

Nathan Cleary added the extras before kicking a penalty on the stroke of half-time to open up a two-score lead. It was a significant moment, as was the score for Angus 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 momentum.

If there were any doubt about the winners, they were decisively settled with a quarter-hour to go. 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 final minutes as Walsh finished another breathtaking attack, taking advantage of a tired and clearly exhausted English defense for his second try.

Final Score and Looking Ahead

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

• Home Side: Full team lineup.
• Interchange: Bench players.
• Try: Daryl Clark.
• Goal: Lewis.

• Australia: Starting lineup.
• Bench: Reserves.
• Tries: Walsh 2, Crichton 2.
• Goals: Nathan Cleary (five).