Nathan Cleary sends England ominous warning following Kangaroos’ bruising Wembley victory

Nathan Cleary believes Australia are only just getting started in this autumn’s Ashes Series, warning there’s ‘a lot of improvement’ still to come from the Kangaroos after their 26-6 win over England at Wembley.

Kevin Walters’ side reigned supreme in Saturday’s opening Test under the arch, scoring 26 unanswered points, including 18 in the second half, before conceding only to a late try from Daryl Clark.

Half-back Cleary was responsible for ten of the Kangaroos‘ points in the capital having converted all four of their tries along with a penalty on the half-time hooter.

‘There’s a lot of improvement in us, but that’s exciting’

The Penrith Panthers star admitted post-match that the Aussies’ performance was far from polished, but insisted the result underlined the defensive backbone which has been instilled into them.

Cleary explained: A lot of it (the half-time chat) was around the errors and releasing pressure. We had too much of that in the first half, and probably had too much in the second half too, but we came out with the right mentality.

“Our foundation is our defence, going after it and then building the game like that. I thought we did that pretty well.

“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.”

Cleary also provided an insight into just when he knew he opening Test was won, and unsurprisingly, it was when Angus Crichton cantered over early on in the second half.

Once the playmaker himself had converted that try, the ‘Roos had ascertained an unassailable 14-0 advantage, and he said: “They (England) came out real hard, it was to-and-fro for a long time there.

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

“You can feel the momentum (when Crichton scored). It’s such a big thing in rugby league at the moment.

“There was even a moment where I think they nearly scored and then they went after us hard in defence. You can feel that, but you just need to push through that period and come on top.”

With a 1-0 series lead and Cleary warning there’s more to come, the Aussies will head north to Everton FC’s Hill Dickinson Stadium this weekend brimming with confidence – another character trait for England to try and contend with.