Australia Accuses England of Aggressive Tactics in Intense Rugby League Ashes Opener

Australian powerhouse Angus Crichton has voiced his concerns over England’s aggressive tactics during the Kangaroos’ 26-6 triumph in the first Rugby League Ashes Test at Wembley on Saturday. Crichton suggested that the English team was aiming to play rough and tough from the outset.

Reece Walsh, fresh off the Brisbane Broncos’ thrilling NRL Grand Final victory, showcased his exceptional form by scoring two tries in his international debut. His standout performance also included thwarting several of England’s promising attacks.

Despite the decisive final score, the match was a closely fought contest, with England keeping pace with Australia in terms of creativity and physicality. At halftime, the score was just 8-0 in favor of Australia, but the Kangaroos turned up the heat in the latter half to secure their win.

“They came with their trademark physicality and were trying to take our heads off early,” Crichton remarked, reflecting on the intense nature of the match.

He further commented on England’s strategy, saying, “The Poms, backs against the wall, flying off the line, just trying to bash you, I think.”

Crichton believes that Saturday’s showdown at Wembley has ignited the fuse for a huge second Test at Everton’s new stadium, The Hill Dickinson Stadium, on November 1.

‘There are a lot of tough men in their team and they obviously were trying to kill us tonight and I’m sure there will be more of that in the next two games,’ he explained.

‘I think I took the second carry of the game and had a cut on my head and a cut on my finger.’

Crichton was then pressed on what caused the cut on his finger, to which he bluntly responded: ‘From them trying to kill us. It’s all good.’

Crichton was a standout during the match, powering his way over to score two second-half tries, while also making 23 tackles during the game.

While the hosts will take heart from how they played in the first half, Australia were simply ruthless in attack.

Despite that, Crichton delivered a critical appraisal of his side’s performance, claiming that Australia were sloppy with the footy.

‘We had a 78 per cent completion rate in the first half which isn’t good enough for Test footy,’ the Roosters star said.

‘There’s no excuse – we have to be better. There was an extra second in the ruck where they were pushing us down.

‘But it was good fun and a good first Test for us as a group and we will grow off the back of this.’

While England, who are looking to break a 55-year duck to win the Rugby League Ashes, had come into the series as the underdogs, Wane revealed he was disappointed that his players failed to showcase their best at Wembley.

‘They are very disappointed in the dressing room,’ Wane said after the game.

‘I really wanted to see the best of our players, but we undersold ourselves today. That’s torture for me.’

‘I know what these players are capable of, but we didn’t give ourselves a chance to win,’ he said. ‘It hurts a lot; we didn’t put our best show on today. What we did wrong are easy fixes.

‘They outplayed and outkicked us. It is easy to fix but has a knock-on effect. It was simple rugby; we did not nail the details.’