🔗 Share this article Reece Walsh Takes Center Stage as Ruthless The Kangaroos Defeat The Hosts Aside in First Ashes Test The home side's offensive weaknesses were laid bare and capitalized on by a ruthless Australian side as the visitors secured a surprisingly comfortable victory in the first match of the rugby league Ashes series. Shaun Wane’s team had talked at length about their motivation going into the opening series for over two decades, and they were certainly not short on endeavour at the famous stadium. Yet, in the key instances, it was the world champions who displayed more composure in front of a record attendance for an series match in the United Kingdom of over sixty thousand spectators. Outstanding Display from Walsh Led by an exceptional showing in offense and defense from Brisbane Broncos’ Walsh, the Kangaroos were deserving and convincing winners in the first match of the three-game contest, meaning England must win at Goodison Park next Saturday to keep alive their hopes of a series victory since the 1970s. They will have to be much better with the ball if they are to achieve that. On multiple occasions in the first half, the hosts found themselves in promising positions but they were unable to cross for any points. That was in no small part thanks to Reece Walsh, who pulled off two wonderful turnovers. Key Moments of the Match The first occurred as Farnworth seemed destined to put Dom Young in for what would have been the opening try, then the fullback denied Mikey Lewis as the break neared. By then, the Australians had taken the lead as Reece Walsh himself completed a wonderful move. Nathan Cleary added the extras before adding a penalty on the brink of half-time to open up a eight-point advantage. It was a pivotal point, as was the score for Angus Crichton soon after the resumption which made it fourteen to nil in favour of the Kangaroos. The hosts now had to score three times and that seemed to stifle their drive. Should there have been uncertainty about the victors, they were decisively settled with a quarter-hour to go. Munster's line break was backed up by Crichton, who broke through Welsby for the Kangaroos' third score. That made it twenty to zero and there was further humiliation in the final minutes as Reece Walsh completed another breathtaking move, taking advantage of a tired and clearly exhausted England defense for his second try. Match Result and Looking Ahead By then, home fans had begun to filter out and many missed Clark's late try, which at least avoided England finishing scoreless. However, there are plenty of questions for the coach to address going into what is now a must-win Test next weekend. Home Side: Full team lineup. Interchange: Bench players. Tries: Daryl Clark. Goal: Lewis. Australia: Starting lineup. Bench: Reserves. Scores: Reece Walsh (two), Angus Crichton (two). Goals: Nathan Cleary (five).