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England's attacking frailties were exposed and punished by a ruthless Australia as the visitors secured a surprisingly comfortable win in the first match of the Ashes.

Shaun Wane’s side had spoken effusively about their motivation going into the opening series for 22 years, and they were definitely full of effort at Wembley. Yet, in the key instances, it was the reigning title holders who showed more calmness in front of a historic crowd for an series match in the United Kingdom of more than 60,000.

Outstanding Display from Walsh

Led by an outstanding showing in attack and defence from club star Walsh, the Kangaroos were deserving and convincing winners in the first match of the three-match series, meaning the hosts must triumph at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium next weekend to sustain their hopes of a first Ashes win since the 1970s.

England will have to be much better with the possession if they are to achieve that. On multiple occasions in the opening period, the home team 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 wonderful turnovers.

Key Moments of the Match

The first came as Herbie Farnworth seemed destined to put Dom Young in for what would have been the opening try, then the fullback stopped Mikey Lewis as the break neared. By then, the Kangaroos had gone ahead as Reece Walsh himself finished a excellent move.

Nathan Cleary converted before adding a penalty on the stroke of half-time to establish a eight-point lead. It was a pivotal point, as was the try for Angus 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 victors, they were decisively settled with a quarter-hour to go. Cameron Munster’s line 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 added disappointment in the final minutes as Walsh finished another scintillating attack, exploiting a weary and visibly shot English defense for his second try.

Match Result and Outlook

By then, home fans had begun to leave early and many missed Clark's consolation, which at least avoided the home side finishing scoreless. However, there are plenty of questions for Wane to answer going into what is now a must-win Test next weekend.

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

• Australia: Starting lineup.
• Bench: Reserves.
• Tries: Reece Walsh (two), Angus Crichton (two).
• Kicks: Nathan Cleary (five).