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England's offensive weaknesses were laid bare and capitalized on by a ruthless Australian side as the tourists swept to a surprisingly comfortable win in the opening Test of the Ashes.

The England coach's side had spoken effusively about their motivation going into the opening series for over two decades, and they were definitely full of endeavour at the famous stadium. However, in the key instances, it was the world champions who displayed more composure in front of a historic crowd for an series match in the United Kingdom of over sixty thousand spectators.

Outstanding Performance from Reece Walsh

Led by an outstanding showing in attack and defence from Brisbane Broncos’ Reece Walsh, Australia were deserving and convincing winners in the first match of the three-match series, meaning England must win at Goodison Park next Saturday to sustain their aspirations of a first Ashes win since 1970.

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 promising positions but they were failed to score for any points. That was in large measure thanks to Walsh, who executed two superb interceptions.

Crucial Plays of the Game

The first occurred as Farnworth seemed destined to put Dom Young in for what would have been the first score, then Walsh stopped Lewis as the break neared. By then, the Australians had taken the lead as Walsh himself completed a wonderful play.

Nathan Cleary added the extras before kicking a two-pointer 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 soon after the resumption which made it 14-0 in favor of the Kangaroos. England now had to score three times and that seemed to halt their momentum.

Should there have been uncertainty 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 closing stages as Walsh completed another breathtaking move, exploiting a tired and clearly exhausted England defense for his second try.

Final Score and Outlook

By then, home fans had begun to filter out and many did not see Daryl Clark’s consolation, which at least avoided the home side 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 weekend.

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

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