Walsh Shines as Dominant The Kangaroos Defeat The Hosts Aside in Opening Ashes Test

The home side's offensive weaknesses were laid bare and capitalized on by a clinical Australia as the visitors swept to a surprisingly comfortable victory in the opening Test of the Ashes.

The England coach's team had talked at length about their drive going into the opening series for over two decades, and they were definitely full of endeavour at the famous stadium. Yet, in the key instances, it was the world champions who displayed more calmness in front of a record attendance for an Ashes Test in the UK of over sixty thousand spectators.

Outstanding Display from Reece Walsh

Led by an outstanding showing in attack and defence from club star Reece Walsh, the Kangaroos were deserving and convincing victors in the opening Test of the three-match series, meaning England must triumph at Goodison Park next weekend to keep alive their hopes of a first Ashes win since 1970.

England will have to be much better with the ball 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 tries. That was in large measure thanks to Walsh, who executed two superb turnovers.

Key Moments of the Match

The first came as Herbie Farnworth seemed destined to put Young in for what would have been the first score, then Walsh stopped Lewis as the break neared. By then, the Australians had gone ahead as Walsh himself finished a excellent move.

Cleary added the extras before adding a two-pointer on the brink of half-time to establish a two-score lead. It was a pivotal point, as was the score for Angus Crichton soon 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 momentum.

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

That made it 20-0 and there was further humiliation in the final minutes as Reece Walsh completed another scintillating move, taking advantage of a weary and clearly exhausted English defensive line for his second.

Match Result and Looking Ahead

By then, local supporters had begun to filter out and many did not see Clark's late try, which at least prevented England being held to nil. However, there are plenty of questions for the coach to address going into what is now a must-win match next Saturday.

• England: 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: Dearden, Collins, Cotter, Koloamatangi.
• Tries: Reece Walsh (two), Angus Crichton (two).
• Goals: Nathan Cleary (five).