England 6-26 Australia conclusions as ‘true rockstar’ emerges as world’s best player

Following Australia’s 26-6 win over England in Test One of the Ashes series, here are our six key conclusions from Wembley.

Clinical edge

There wasn’t a lot to separate the sides today, but Australia took their chances while England left points on the pitch.

Shaun Wane’s side arguably had the better chances of the first-half, but they were left on a doughnut come the interval. Jake Wardle’s missed chance or Tom Johnstone’s kick for the on-chasing Mikey Lewis and Jack Welsby could have easily resulted in a try on another day, and while it’s very easy to reflect on these missed chances in hindsight, the fact that Australia took an 8-0 lead into the sheds leaves a sour taste in the mouth.

Australia didn’t have bucketfuls of chances, truth be told, but they certainly took what came their way. Their first real chance of the half was converted into six points, as Reece Walsh latched onto Mark Nawaqanitawase’s pass after his stellar break. They also crossed the whitewash again in an eerily similar way towards the end of the half, only for it to be chalked off for an infringement in the build-up.

This trend continued in the second 40. Walsh’s break in virtually his first touch of the half was eventually converted by Angus Crichton, after a consistent five-minute spell of pressure, and the back-rower again profited from a good team move later on.

Test rugby is defined by these small margins. You simply cannot afford to miss chances.

England paid the price for it.

Game of two halves

If you watched the first and second 40 in isolation, you would have thought you were watching two completely different games. The first-half was defined by defence, with both sides bringing serious steel to the party. England’s moderated push from the ruck, creating an almost arrow-shape spearheaded by back-rowers John Bateman and Kai Pearce-Paul on their respective edges, worked a treat in the early parts of the game, limiting Australia to very stagnant play ball-in-hand.

Australia also contained England, with their aggressive edge blitz stopping the likes of Dom Young and Tom Johnstone getting the ball deep in the red-zone, thus limiting England’s finishing ability. That Wardle chance is the prime example of that, with Reece Walsh’s shooting out of the line to cause the error.

But, inspired by a Walsh score and a Nathan Cleary penalty, Australia came out firing in the second 40. They were absolutely rampant ball-in-hand, dancing through England’s defence pretty much at will.

Welsby will be having nightmares over Angus Crichton’s first score, and maybe even his second too, but that was just two examples of how dominant Australia were in the second-half.

Witnessing greatness

Covering both codes, I’ve been fortunate to watch a lot of fantastic ‘rugby’ players of either the 13-man or 15-man persuasion. Walsh could very well be the best in either at the moment.

The full-back was completely and utterly spellbinding today, and had England on strings for most of the game. Even when Wane’s men had Australia under the cosh, Walsh managed to find a way through the defence to get his side on the front foot, and then exploded into life come the 20th minute.

His try to give his side the lead just freed him up and brought a newfound confidence to his game, eerily similar to the manner in which he tore apart NRL defences all season. He quickly became Australia’s focal point, producing line break after line break and eating up metres along the way.

In total, Walsh notched a staggering 242 metres from 16 carries and got even more reward for his efforts with a second try towards the end of the game. Ridiculous numbers in any match, let alone a Test match.

He just made it look so easy today, something which should strike fear into England for the rest of the series. We all know he’s a special talent, a true rugby league rockstar, but Test level is a whole different kettle of fish and he made it look like he was playing Rugby League 26 on rookie difficulty.

Sublime. Simply sublime.

Room to improve?

While the scoreboard and overall manner of the victory suggest Australia could waltz to a 3-0 series win, there is still plenty of room to improve for the Kangaroos. Chilling.

This was by no means a perfect win for Kevin Walters’ side. There were some rather sloppy errors in attack, particularly in the first-half. Errors at the play-the-ball, knock-ons, passes falling to floor or even just players being in the wrong place in shape, they lacked some fluidity.

Things drastically improved in the second-half, for sure, but overall it feels like this side have not reached their full potential. This is a thing with the majority of Test teams, after all it is the first time that exact combination will have played together, but you feel there is a lot more in the Kangaroos ahead of next weekend’s meeting.

That is a feeling shared by the majority of the group, too.

“We were probably just a bit antsy and couldn’t really build a bunch of momentum, said half-back Cleary. “But when we needed to, we ran our shapes well and scrambled hard.

“I think there were some combination breakdowns and a few passes not sticking. I’m looking forward to resetting and recovering after this and going again next week.

“There’s a lot of improvement in us, but that’s exciting.”

“It was a bit scrappy – we expect us to get better, and the English side will too,” added boss Walters. “Our defence was good, which makes me happier than anything.

“There’s no relief. I am in a strong position as the coach of this side. These guys give you confidence. They handled the pressure well and then will get on for next week.”

Ch- ch-ch-ch-changessss

England look set for a few personnel changes come Test Two next weekend, if Shaun Wane’s words are anything to go by.

“I’ve got a strong 24,” he said. “That’s the whole point of having a 24.

“I’ll be looking at everything. Every single position will be analysed and with us being obsessed to trying to get a win.”

While people will be calling for widespread change, Wane needs to be cautious of completely ripping up the squad and starting afresh. Yes, that could give England real impetus next weekend, but there were also nuggets of promise within this England performance and that should be the thing they focus on.

Wane himself insists it’s just small changes, mainly focused around the ending of their attacking sets, but if you have an entirely new group than that could rear its head again in Merseyside.

There will be some changes to the squad, for sure, with AJ Brimson the headline name primed for a crack in the starting 13, but it’s a tough balancing act between being too reactionary and getting an improved performance.

New record

One real positive from the day overall was the crowd, with over 60,000 packed into Wembley to watch the Test and setting a new Ashes record in the process.

“That makes me even sadder hearing that (it was a record Ashes crowd),” Wane said of the crowd. “We wanted to make them proud.

“We wanted to challenge Australia and so badly and that’s why I’m so upset.”

While it might have been an upsetting thing for the head coach to take a defeat like that in front of a very strong crowd, the figure itself should be celebrated.

It’s a sign that the game can really crack the Capital city, coming amid serious investment into the London Broncos too, and it’s a sign that Test rugby league is continuing to rise.

SUNDAY’S READS ON LRL

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