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The home side's offensive weaknesses were exposed and punished by a ruthless Australian side as the visitors swept to a worryingly straightforward victory in the first match of the Ashes.

Shaun Wane’s side had spoken effusively about their motivation going into the first Ashes for 22 years, and they were certainly not short on effort at the famous stadium. Yet, 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.

Outstanding Performance from Walsh

Led by an outstanding display in offense and defense from club star Reece Walsh, Australia were worthy and comfortable winners in the first match of the three-match series, meaning the hosts must triumph at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium next weekend to keep alive their aspirations of a series victory since the 1970s.

They will have to be significantly improved with the ball if they are to achieve that. On several instances in the first half, the home team found themselves in promising positions but they were failed to score for any tries. That was in no small part thanks to Reece Walsh, who executed two wonderful interceptions.

Key Moments of the Game

The initial occurred as Farnworth seemed destined to put Dom Young in for what would have been the opening try, then Walsh stopped Lewis as half-time approached. By then, the Kangaroos had taken the lead as Walsh himself completed a excellent move.

Cleary converted before adding a penalty on the stroke of half-time to open up a two-score advantage. It was a pivotal moment, as was the score for Crichton shortly after the resumption which made it 14-0 in favour of the Kangaroos. The hosts now had to score three times and that seemed to halt their drive.

Should there have been uncertainty about the winners, they were decisively settled with 15 minutes to go. Munster's half-break was supported by Crichton, who pushed past Jack Welsby for Australia’s third try.

That made it 20-0 and there was further humiliation in the closing stages as Walsh completed another scintillating move, exploiting a weary and visibly shot English defense for his second try.

Final Score and Outlook

By then, local supporters had begun to leave early and many did not see Clark's late try, which at least avoided England finishing scoreless. Nonetheless, there are plenty of questions for the coach to answer going into what is now a do-or-die Test next Saturday.

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

• Australia: Starting lineup.
• Bench: Reserves.
• Tries: Reece Walsh (two), Angus Crichton (two).
• Goals: Cleary 5.