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The home side's offensive weaknesses were exposed and punished by a clinical Australia as the visitors secured a surprisingly comfortable victory in the opening Test of the rugby league Ashes series.

Shaun Wane’s team had spoken effusively about their drive going into the first Ashes for 22 years, and they were certainly not short on endeavour at Wembley. However, in the key instances, it was the reigning title holders who displayed more composure in front of a record attendance for an series match in the United Kingdom of more than 60,000.

Brilliant Performance from Reece Walsh

Led by an exceptional showing in offense and defense from Brisbane Broncos’ Reece Walsh, Australia were deserving and convincing winners in the opening Test of the three-match series, meaning the hosts must triumph at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium next Saturday 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 multiple occasions in the opening period, the hosts found themselves in advantageous situations but they were unable to cross for any points. That was in large measure thanks to Reece Walsh, who pulled off two wonderful turnovers.

Crucial Plays of the Match

The initial occurred as Herbie Farnworth seemed certain to put Dom Young in for what would have been the opening try, then Walsh stopped Mikey Lewis as the break approached. By then, the Kangaroos had gone ahead as Walsh himself finished a wonderful play.

Nathan Cleary added the extras before kicking a two-pointer on the stroke of the interval to establish a eight-point lead. It was a pivotal moment, as was the score for Crichton shortly after the restart which made it 14-0 in favor of the visitors. England now had to score three times and that seemed to halt their drive.

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

That made it 20-0 and there was further humiliation in the final minutes as Reece Walsh completed another scintillating attack, taking advantage of a weary and visibly shot England defensive line for his second try.

Final Score and Outlook

By then, home fans had begun to filter out and many missed Daryl Clark’s late try, which at least avoided England finishing scoreless. However, there are plenty of questions for Wane to address going into what is now a must-win Test next Saturday.

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

• Australia: Starting lineup.
• Interchange: Dearden, Collins, Cotter, Koloamatangi.
• Tries: Reece Walsh (two), Angus Crichton (two).
• Goals: Nathan Cleary (five).