England’s performance in the opening Test at Wembley has been heavily criticised by members of the Australian media, with an NRL legend dubbing their efforts as ‘horrible’.
The Kangaroos held England out until the 77th minute, where Daryl Clark managed to barge his way over from close range to save his country from being kept to nil.
Players thought to be the home nation’s stars failed to show up, with Morgan Knowles, Mikey Lewis and George Williams all unable to make their mark.
When it comes to playing Australia, England’s forward pack had often matches if not bettered, their overseas counterparts. However, that grunt and go-forward from the pack was nowhere to be seen on Saturday, which made it easy for the Green and Gold to dominate the game.
NRL and Australian legends, Paul Gallen and Cameron Smith, dissected the English efforts, and it’s fair to say they were left unimpressed by their performance.
Discussing the game on Nine’s Wide World of Sports, Gallen berated Shaun Wane’s side, with their forwards in particular subject to heavy criticism.
“England were horrible,” he exclaimed. “One thing about the English side, they are always physical, they are always tough, particularly in the middle of the field and I thought they really lacked that last night.
“I didn’t think they were physical at all. Their edge defence, forever and a day, even when we played them, was horrible, and it was again last night.
Gallen, who played for Australia 32 times in his career, as well as 24 appearances for New South Wales, believes that the gap between the world’s two elite competitions is changing in size, and not in the Super League’s favour.
He said: “I really saw last night the difference between the Super League and the NRL. I don’t think they’re gaining on us at all. I think we’re getting further away from them. I think we’ll win the series comfortably.
“I reckon we could pick two or three Australian sides and go over there and beat the Poms. They really struggled last night.
England’s defensive efforts labelled “embarrassing” by NRL legends as one key moment stands out
A turning point in the game for Australia came just after half time, as Man of the Match Reece Walsh made a line break following what looked to be a good kick from Jez Litten.
The Brisbane full-back looked to be trapped in the corner, but he managed to evade multiple England defenders with ease, and broke 70m down field before being tackled by Herbie Farnworth and Dominic Young.
Both Gallen and Smith picked out this moment in particular for criticism, and neither held back their thoughts.
First, Smith said: “That is embarrassing defence. That’s off a kick chase, Reece Walsh, in a Test match, on his Test debut, he needs to be getting lined up by a couple of front rowers there.
Gallen added: “That’s what was disappointing about the Poms last night. They are normally really physical in the middle of the field, they are hard to handle. They are big, strong, physical guys and they really lacked that last night. I think Australia will go on with it, and they’ll get the job done and I’d love to see them win 3-0.
Whilst Australia didn’t capitalise on that moment itself, to show that level of effort and defensive frailty just after the half-time break gave the Kangaroos all the confidence they needed to go on and see out the game.
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