England v Australia verdict as Shaun Wane’s side second best in Wembley series opener

England were second best at Wembley as they were beaten 26-6 by Australia in the first Test of the Ashes series.

Here’s our verdict.

Action

Any fears of England being completely blown away by with the best the NRL has to offer were quickly dispelled at Wembley with Shaun Wane’s boys giving as good as they got in the early exchanges.

It wasn’t always neat and tidy and England’s lack of size through the middle showed at times but they were the side that had the first spell of possession in good ball with Jack Welsby wasted an opportunity by throwing a wild pass into touch.

But, it was England’s defence that was breached first and it’s fair to say it was a contentious one, with Mikey Lewis being obstructed in the build-up. Australia worked the ball out wide to Mark Nawaqanitawase, who found the run of Kotoni Staggs on his inside shoulder. The Brisbane Broncos man found his club teammate Reece Walsh with the full-back finishing acrobatically in front of a pocket of Australian fans behind the sticks.

England nearly hit back through a Jake Wardle break, but Walsh read the pass superbly to block the attack.

Angus Crichton thought he’d touched down only to see play pulled back for a tackle on Dom Young in the air and England’s best chance of the first half came when Tom Johnstone broke away down the line before kicking into the in-goal area. Ultimately, the kick was too heavy and the ball rolled dead before Welsby could touch it down.

Australia nudged themselves two points further ahead just before the break with a penalty and they were the first to strike in the second half, too, effectively killing the game.

Running through Alex Walmsley like he wasn’t even there, Crichton burst away down the field towards Welsby. The full-back hesitated and before he knew it Crichton was touching down in front of him.

And Australia’s lead became unassailable when Cameron Munster got the offload away to Crichton for his second of the game.

England continued to compete throughout but they just lacked answers when the likes of Walsh and Munster got on the ball and ultimately, Walsh’s second with eight minutes to go made it something of a rout.

Daryl Clark prevented the nil with a smart scoot around the ruck with three minutes remaining, but it was nothing more than a consolation.

Key moment

England needed to start the second half fast and get themselves on the board with the score at 8-0. Ultimately, though, Reece Walsh set the tone with a break down the field and Crichton finished not long after. England had a mountain to climb from that point on.

Good day for

Reece Walsh. The best player on the pitch by some distance. A wonderful showing from the NRL Grand Final winner.

Bad day for

Isaah Yeo. Failed a head injury assessment after leaving the field inside the first 10 minutes meaning the captain will miss next week’s Test at Everton.

Bigger picture

England went toe to toe with Australia for periods of the Test but Australia’s talent shone through at pivotal points of the game and that took it away from Shaun Wane’s boys. The fear is that Australia are only going to improve the longer they’re in England.

Wane has plenty to think about in terms of his selection and he has to make changes with question marks over a number of key men, including Welsby with AJ Brimson waiting in the wings. He doesn’t have long to mull things over though with the two sides meeting in Liverpool in seven days’ time.