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England's offensive weaknesses were laid bare and capitalized on by a ruthless Australia as the visitors secured a worryingly straightforward win in the opening Test of the rugby league Ashes series.

Shaun Wane’s team had talked at length about their motivation going into the opening series for 22 years, and they were certainly not short on endeavour at Wembley. However, in the crucial moments, it was the world champions who displayed more composure in front of a historic crowd for an series match in the United Kingdom of more than 60,000.

Outstanding Performance from Reece Walsh

Led by an exceptional display in attack and defence from club star Walsh, Australia were deserving and convincing winners in the first match of the three-game contest, meaning the hosts must triumph at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium next Saturday to keep alive their aspirations of a series victory since 1970.

England will have to be significantly improved with the ball if they are to achieve that. On several instances in the opening period, the home team found themselves in advantageous situations but they were failed to score for any points. That was in no small part thanks to Walsh, who executed two wonderful turnovers.

Crucial Plays of the Match

The first occurred as Herbie Farnworth seemed destined to put Dom Young in for what would have been the opening try, then Walsh stopped Lewis as half-time approached. By then, the Kangaroos had gone ahead as Walsh himself completed a wonderful play.

Nathan Cleary converted before adding a two-pointer on the stroke of the interval to open up a two-score advantage. It was a significant point, as was the try for Angus Crichton soon after the restart which made it 14-0 in favour of the Kangaroos. England now had to cross the line thrice and that seemed to stifle their drive.

Should there have been uncertainty about the victors, they were firmly put to bed with a quarter-hour to go. Munster's line break was supported by Crichton, who broke through Jack Welsby for Australia’s third try.

That made it 20-0 and there was added disappointment in the final minutes as Reece Walsh finished another scintillating move, taking advantage of a tired and clearly exhausted English defensive line for his second try.

Match Result and Outlook

By then, local supporters had begun to filter out and many did not see Clark's consolation, which at least avoided the home side finishing scoreless. However, there are many issues for the coach to answer going into what is now a must-win match next weekend.

• England: Full team lineup.
• Interchange: Bench players.
• Try: Clark.
• Goal: Lewis.

• Visitors: Starting lineup.
• Bench: Dearden, Collins, Cotter, Koloamatangi.
• Scores: Walsh 2, Crichton 2.
• Goals: Cleary 5.