Man of the Match Reece Walsh reacts after ‘surreal’ first Ashes Test

Reece Walsh was the Man of the Match in the first rugby league Ashes Test in 22 years with the NRL star keeping up his incredible form of late.

It might be three weeks since the last game that Reece Walsh played but his form remained the same with the Australia full-back being the major difference between the Kangaroos and hosts England.

He scored two of Australia’s four tries and helped to save at least one more as he was excellent in both attack and defence in a performance that mimicked his Clive Churchill medal-winning Grand Final performance.

The Brisbane star only scored one that day but he was exceptional and the same could be said for the first Test at Wembley as Australia won 26-6, without really getting out of second gear.

England competed for the first 20 minutes but it was Walsh’s try that seemed to halt that and then it was his 70-metre kick return on Australia’s first set of the second-half that effectively killed England’s hopes, with Angus Crichton scoring his first just minutes later.

Reece Walsh shines on Australia debut

Speaking after the game having been awarded the Man of the Match medal, Reece Walsh was asked about his incredible debut for Australia, something he described as “pretty surreal”.

He told the BBC: “Yeah, it’s pretty surreal for myself, being at Wembley, being in a match full of world-class players.

“We definitely felt the support from everyone that’s here to support us. We appreciate you.”

As for how Australia went, he said: “We’re pretty happy with how we were out there. We had a really good week of training, there are world-class players in our team, so it made it a lot easier for us boys in the spine and everybody on the team.”

He was also asked about his performance and whether he was happier with the two tries he scored or the two he prevented, batting down a Herbie Farnworth pass to Jack Welsby and then a Jake Wardle one to Mikey Lewis, with the latter certainly saving a try.

“Probably the two that I stopped,” he responded, adding: “I think that goes a long way in getting the results right.

“Obviously they got that late try there that we’ve been pretty disappointed with, but we’ll work hard during the week and try and get that stuff right.”

That final line is an ominous warning for England with Australia only expected to get better throughout the three-Test series.

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Reece Walsh is looking DANGEROUS ‼️ pic.twitter.com/trfASTVwY8

— NRL (@NRL) October 25, 2025