England produced a much-improved performance but their same failings came back to haunt them as Australia secured the series with a hard-earned victory. After a dismal showing at Wembley last Saturday, England were determined to prove they could match the reigning world champions. For large periods it looked as though they could pull off an upset, with an improved physical and defensive showing.
But when it mattered most, just like in London, England’s attacking fluency was found badly lacking. They have scored one try in two Tests, which underlines the major problems with this side and it meant the 14 points Australia did score was always going to be more than enough.
It was a wonderful occasion, with Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium proving to be a fantastic theatre for high-level rugby league. You could not fault England’s effort and aggression, but in critical moments George Williams and Harry Smith did not have an answer to the Kangaroos defence.
England are now playing for pride in the third and final Test in Leeds, but there will be plenty of pressure 12 months from a World Cup to show they can cause the world’s best side problems. Should they falter in the same area again, it will leave major questions over the direction of the national team and perhaps Shaun Wane.
Wane insisted he had not given any contemplation to whether Headingley could be his last game. “I’ve not thought about me,” he said. “The only thing I’m thinking about is getting my players to perform. We have to finish this series 2-1 now.”
England Brimson; Young, Farnworth, Wardle, Johnstone; Williams, Smith; McMeeken, Litten, Lees, Pearce-Paul, Watkins, Knowles. Interchange Lewis, Walmsley, Smithies, Oledzki.
Goals Smith 2.
Australia Walsh; Nawaqanitawase, Staggs, Shibasaki, Addo-Carr; Munster, Cleary; Collins, Grant, Fa’asuamaleaui, Crichton, Young, Carrigan. Interchange Dearden, Smith, Cotter, Koloamatangi.
Tries Munster, Young. Goals Cleary 3.
Referee G Atkins (Australia)
England, as Wane said, were the equal of the Kangaroos for most of the game, but a pivotal five-minute passage when the tourists scored twice proved to be the difference. It is those moments, where quality matters most, that England do look to be behind Australia. “We switched off 10 minutes after half-time and that hurt us immensely,” Wane said.
Wane said pre-match he hoped the Ashes heading back to the sport’s northern heartlands would yield a more raucous and hostile atmosphere. He was not disappointed, as a sold-out venue set the backdrop superbly and England’s players matched the occasion in a wonderful advert for Test rugby league in the first half.
The two sides could not be split at the interval, with four penalty goals the only scoring acts as England noticeably upped it on numerous fronts. Chief among the traits that led to an improved performance was far more aggression in the pack.
That was clear inside the opening five minutes, with Morgan Knowles and Matty Lees in the middle of some flare-ups to further ramp up the atmosphere, which, by this point, was bristling. The first scoring act came from the boot of Nathan Cleary after a ruck infringement from the hosts, but England did not back down.
They had the better of the opportunities to score in the opening half hour. But for two wonderful pieces of defensive play from Reece Walsh to deny Tom Johnstone and Dom Young, the hosts arguably would have gone ahead. They at least twice levelled through the boot of Harry Smith to leave it finely poised at half-time.
But just like Wembley, the opening exchanges of the second half were crucial. In five minutes, the Kangaroos came to life and scored two tries to kill England’s momentum and the atmosphere. Their first was from a sublime piece of individual play from Cameron Munster. The Melbourne Storm half cut through the defence to touch down under pressure and while Cleary hit the post with the conversion, he was successful five minutes later as Hudson Young collected his towering kick to make it 14-4. Suddenly, England had to score twice and the Kangaroos were in control.
That never looked likely. There were plenty of spells of possession but there was a crucial lack of quality when it mattered most. For a brief moment there was renewed optimism for England when Walsh was sent to the sin-bin for taking out Dom Young, but even with a man advantage the hosts’ decision-making was abysmal and it meant the Kangaroos could close the series out with minimal fuss.
“We came here expecting a tough series and we’ve got that,” the Australia coach, Kevin Walters, said. “Last week at Wembley, it went under the radar in terms of how tough the game was. We needed to stand up today because we turned over a fair bit of ball, but they kept defending.”
