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The home side's offensive weaknesses were laid bare and capitalized on by a ruthless Australia as the visitors secured a surprisingly comfortable victory in the first match of the Ashes.

The England coach's team had talked at length about their motivation going into the first Ashes for 22 years, and they were definitely full of endeavour at Wembley. However, in the crucial moments, it was the reigning title holders who displayed more calmness in front of a record attendance for an Ashes Test in the UK of over sixty thousand spectators.

Brilliant Performance from Reece Walsh

Guided by an outstanding display in attack and defence from club star Walsh, the Kangaroos were deserving and convincing winners in the first match of the three-game contest, meaning England must win at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium next weekend to keep alive their aspirations of a series victory since the 1970s.

England will have to be much better with the ball if they are to achieve that. On multiple occasions in the first half, 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 pulled off two superb turnovers.

Crucial Plays of the Match

The first occurred as Herbie Farnworth seemed certain to put Dom Young in for what would have been the opening try, then the fullback denied Mikey Lewis as half-time neared. By then, the Australians had gone ahead as Reece Walsh himself completed a wonderful move.

Cleary converted before kicking a penalty on the stroke of the interval to open up a eight-point lead. It was a significant moment, as was the score for Angus Crichton shortly after the restart which made it fourteen to nil 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 victors, they were decisively settled with a quarter-hour to go. Cameron Munster’s line break was backed up by Angus Crichton, who broke through Welsby for Australia’s third try.

That made it twenty to zero and there was added disappointment in the closing stages as Walsh completed another breathtaking move, exploiting a weary and clearly exhausted English defense for his second try.

Match Result and Looking Ahead

By then, local supporters had begun to leave early and many did not see Daryl Clark’s consolation, which at least prevented England being held to nil. Nonetheless, there are many issues for the coach to answer going into what is now a do-or-die match next Saturday.

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

• Australia: Walsh; Nawaqanitawase, Staggs, Shibasaki, Addo-Carr; Munster, Cleary; Carrigan, Grant, Fa’asuamaleaui, Crichton, Young, Yeo.
• Interchange: Reserves.
• Tries: Reece Walsh (two), Angus Crichton (two).
• Kicks: Nathan Cleary (five).