Match Report – England 6 – 26 Australia

In the Ashes series, Australia, who won at Wembley, led 1-0. The Kangaroos scored four tries, led by Rhys Walsh and Angus Crichton. Nathan Cleary added four conversions and one penalty. The second Test will be played at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday 1 November.

Australia led 1-0 in the Ashes after a strong performance at Wembley

England lost 26-6 to Australia in the first Ashes Test at Wembley Stadium.

After a tough first 40 minutes, Australia led 8-0 at the half-time break. The Kangaroos took the lead after 40 minutes with a goal from Reece Walsh and a penalty from Nathan Cleary.

Australia then motored to a 26-0 lead with a double from Angus Crichton, a double from Walsh and a perfect shot from Cleary.

Daley Clarke managed to give England victory, but it was too late and England lost 26-6.

Reece Walsh scores Australia’s first goal with a flying finish

Australia lead 1-0 in the three-game series, with upcoming games at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium and Leeds at Headingley.

England must win against Everton on Saturday, November 1 to keep this series alive, which will put all the pressure on Sean Wayne’s side.

Australia show their lessons while England leave questions open

The stage was set up in front of a crowd of 60,812 at Wembley Stadium for the first Ashes Test since 2003, delivering what fans had been waiting for for 22 years.

Handling errors plagued both teams in the early encounters, and those chances played their part.

It was a fierce battle with Harvey Farnworth, who shined as an England representative.

That meant it took Australia 22 minutes to take the lead after the video referee ruled Mikey Lewis was not at fault during the build-up. Kotoni Stags broke through and Walsh, who was on the inside, hit a swan dive on the way. Cleary converted for a 6-0 lead.

Australia looked to have taken another lead in the 37th minute with a goal from Angus Crichton, but a video check by the referee revealed that Dom Young had been brought down in the air by Josh Addo-Carr during the build-up.

Reece Walsh scores Australia’s first goal with a flying finish

But Jez Litten added two points off a Walsh pull to end the first 40, and Cleary converted a penalty to take an 8-0 lead at halftime.

Australia came out strong in the second half and after an eerie Walsh break, it didn’t take long for the game to be over. Crichton dove past Alex Walmsley and then Jack Wellsby, and Cleary’s accurate shot gave his team a 14-0 lead.

Despite being under pressure, England took their chances and looked for points they couldn’t add to.

Angus Crichton hit two overs in the second half when Australia were leading.

Crichton then converted an inside pass from Cameron Munster for a double in the 65th minute, and Cleary’s conversion gave Australia an overall lead of 20-0.

Then, in the 71st minute, Gehamat Shibasaki broke through down the left flank and Walsh scored his second goal inside, ending the complete and utter domination. Cleary’s addition saw the Kangaroos go 26-0 up, leaving England with many questions to answer.

Daryl Clarke scores a point for England

Clarke managed to power over and give a consolation, but it was too late.

A must-win game is just around the corner for England, and it is a game in which they will need to show more than they showed at Wembley.

Wayne: We were poor, the loss was torture.

England head coach Sean Wayne:

“I feel bad for them. We know what they’re capable of and I think we didn’t give ourselves a chance to win. It wasn’t really close, but they were the best team. There’s no doubt about that. It hurts a lot.”

“We tried really hard to put on our best show today and we just couldn’t do it. It’s easy to fix what we did wrong and we needed to fix it on the run, but we didn’t and the best team definitely won.”

“Hearing that makes me even sadder (that there was a record crowd for the Ashes). We wanted to make them proud. We wanted to challenge Australia so badly. So I’m very upset.”

“Right now (motivation) is easy for us. All we have in mind now is that we are winners at Everton. We have to win. That affects how we train and how we talk. We’re going to dust ourselves off. This will hurt the players, but we’re going to go into the video room and work.”

Rugby League Ashes 2025

First Test: England 6 – 26 Australia

Second Test: Saturday 1 November, Everton Stadium, Liverpool

Third Test: Saturday 8th November, Headingley Stadium, Leeds