Whitewash secured, Jez Litten, Shaun Wane chants and England v Australia talking points

Australia claimed a 30-8 win over England at England to win the Ashes 3-0 at Headingley.

Here’s our talking points from West Yorkshire.

England whitewashed as Australia pile points on late

Whitewash

Australia will be returning down under with a 3-0 win over England in the Ashes. Shaun Wane’s side have been second best throughout the series and the Kangaroos deserve the result.

Some woeful defending handed Australia what would prove to be an unassailable 12-0 lead in the first half with Joe Burgess going missing in the build up to Josh Addo-Carr’s opener, before Lewis’ inability to deal with a kick through gave Hudson Young the chance to score in successive games.

England hit back with the try of the game as George Williams finished Jez Litten’s superb move to break the Australia line and the home side really asked questions of the Aussies going into the second half.

But, as the final whistle loomed, Australia scored three tries in the final 18 minutes to end the series in style with Reece Walsh scoring two and Harry Grant getting over too.

From an England perspective, the last three weeks simply have not been good enough.

Wane future in doubt

Wane has been heavily criticised over the last few weeks and a 3-0 whitewash against the Aussies will do nothing for his hopes of leading this team into the World Cup next year.

The head coach got his selection wrong on a number of occasions, in game decisions have been questionable at times and his side’s attacking struggles have come as a huge frustration to those fans watching on.

The governing body have a decision to make now about Wane’s position in charge of the national side, but it’s fair to say some fans already have their minds made up with chants of ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning’ being heard from the press box.

Brimson blow

Shaun Wane promised that Mikey Lewis would have more minutes and he was right. However, he probably didn’t envisage having to use Lewis at full-back, with AJ Brimson leaving the action with a shoulder injury after 11 minutes.

Lewis was never comfortable at full-back and his hesitancy in the role cost England a try with Hudson Young scoring after the Hull KR man failed to deal with a kick.

Lewis isn’t a full-back and never will be but with Herbie Farnworth on the field, who has limited experience in the role, there was another option for Wane.

Litten England’s best

It’s probably fair to say England’s best player of the series was Jez Litten. The hooker didn’t start at Wembley, but he made a notable impact when he came off the bench under the arch with his pace around the ruck and defensive steel giving England more of an edge.

He was one of England’s best at Everton and the hooker was arguably the home side’s man of the match at Headingley.

It was his ingenuity, speed and skill that carved out England’s only try of the game, racing out of dummy half and through a hole in the Aussie line. He made Reece Walsh look a fool as he sold him a dummy before kicking into the in-goal area for Williams to touch down.

Kangaroos questions

Australia might have won 3-0, but it’s hard to say this Kangaroos side isn’t the one poorest we’ve seen on these shores for some time. Over the course of the series, the Aussies have struggled to find third gear with the ball in hand, barring a 20 or 30 minute spell in the second half at Wembley.

Frustratingly, they haven’t had to put their foot down and play at their best to beat the English over the series though with Shaun Wane’s side underwhelming throughout the autumn. However, in terms of territory and play the balls in the opposition 20, England have pipped Australia for two of the three Tests.

And, if it wasn’t for some schoolboy defending from the hosts at times, Australia would have struggled to get themselves on the board in those latter pair of games, too.

The Aussies might be the best team in the world, but Kevin Walters might not be sitting too comfortably in the head coach role.

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