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Twenty-two years later, the same story. Australia picked up where they left off in their dominance of the Ashes rugby league.
After a tense opening 20 minutes in their first series since 2003, the Kangaroos opened the scoring against England with their first smooth move of the competition.
New signing Mark Nawakanitawasi turned the ball left for rampaging full-back Reece Walsh to move forward in style.
England were not happy as midfielder Mikey Lewis appeared to falter during the build-up, and a forward pass appeared to go as well – but the attempt was given after a review by video referee Jack Smith.
Smith partly redeemed himself for the Wembley crowd by disallowing a second Australia try before half-time as Dom Young was taken out by Josh Addo-Carr as he jumped to catch a high kick.
Shaun Wayne’s side initially responded well to George Williams’ kicking and splitting the defence, with Tom Johnston having the green and gold defending on their heels.
But Cleary added a penalty in the final action of the first half to give Australia an 8-0 lead – and they went on to lead immediately after half-time.
Having put the hosts under constant pressure from the start of the second half, Angus Crichton stepped forward to score from full-back Jack Welsby deep into the goal, allowing it to pass very easily.
Australia kept England at arm’s length after that, smoothing their way to victory in the first meeting between the two teams since the 2017 World Cup final.
That success was secured 15 minutes from time as Crichton broke through the second row once again, and further brilliance was added when the impressive Walsh completed a brilliant move down the length of the pitch down the left.
Daryl Clarke took the lead in the final minutes for England, but that was little more than a consolation.
The downside for the visitors was that skipper Issa Yew was forced off in the first half after failing a head injury assessment following a clash with Young. He will also miss next week’s second Test at Liverpool’s Hill Dickinson Stadium.
More to follow.
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