Munster and Young edge Australia to Ashes series win against England

England produced a much-improved performance in the second Ashes Test but their same failings came back to haunt them as Australia secured the series with a game to spare after 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 the answer for the Kangaroos defence.

England are now playing for pride in the third and final Test in Leeds, but there will be plenty of pressure on them 12 months out from a World Cup to show they can at least 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.

The England coach had insisted pre-match he hoped the Ashes heading back to the sport’s northern heartlands would yield a more raucous and hostile atmosphere. He wasn’t 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 England performance was far more aggression in the pack.

England’s Dom Young is tackled by Australia’s Reece Walsh and Gehamat Shibasaki. Photograph: Lee Parker/CameraSport/Getty Images

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 levelled it through the boot of Harry Smith on two separate occasions 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.

Brutally, that never looked likely. There were plenty of spells of possession, with the hosts knocking on the door but there was a crucial lack of quality when it mattered most. When the line was tested in the second half, they often looked like they had more than enough to be seriously troubled.

That feeling was exacerbated further heading into the final 15 minutes. For a brief moment there was renewed optimism for England when Walsh was sent to the sin-bin for taking Dom Young out but even with a man advantage there was nothing of any real note in terms of attacking potency.

The Kangaroos were able to keep England at arm’s length as some appalling decision-making meant the tourists were able to survive that 10-minute period with some ease.