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

The England coach's side had talked at length about their drive 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 showed 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

Led by an exceptional showing in offense and defense from club star Reece Walsh, Australia were deserving and convincing victors in the opening Test of the three-game contest, meaning England must win at Goodison Park next Saturday to keep alive their aspirations of a first Ashes win since the 1970s.

They will have to be significantly improved with the possession if they are to accomplish that goal. On multiple occasions in the opening period, the hosts found themselves in promising positions but they were failed to score for any tries. That was in large measure thanks to Walsh, who executed two wonderful turnovers.

Crucial Plays of the Match

The first came as Herbie Farnworth seemed certain to put Dom Young in for what would have been the first score, then Walsh stopped Mikey Lewis as half-time approached. By then, the Australians had taken the lead as Reece Walsh himself finished a excellent play.

Cleary added the extras before adding a penalty on the stroke of the interval to establish a eight-point lead. It was a pivotal point, as was the try for Angus Crichton soon after the resumption which made it fourteen to nil in favour of the Kangaroos. The hosts 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 Welsby for the Kangaroos' third score.

That made it 20-0 and there was added disappointment in the final minutes as Walsh completed another breathtaking move, exploiting a tired and clearly exhausted English defense for his second try.

Match Result and Looking Ahead

By then, home fans had begun to filter out and many did not see Daryl Clark’s late try, which at least prevented the home side being held to nil. Nonetheless, there are many issues for the coach to address going into what is now a must-win Test next weekend.

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

• Australia: Walsh; Nawaqanitawase, Staggs, Shibasaki, Addo-Carr; Munster, Cleary; Carrigan, Grant, Fa’asuamaleaui, Crichton, Young, Yeo.
• Bench: Reserves.
• Tries: Walsh 2, Crichton 2.
• Kicks: Nathan Cleary (five).