Australia 18-4 England: Wayne Bennett's men beaten in tight World Cup opener
Last Updated: 27/10/17 2:05pm
England were beaten 18-4 by Australia in the opening game of the Rugby League World Cup in Melbourne on Friday.
It was a close affair - particularly in the second half - as strong defence cancelled out each side's attack.
Wayne Bennett's side were the first on the board when Jermaine McGillvary took a looping pass from Gareth Widdop, with the conversion missed from out wide by England's No 6.
Australia, the busier of the two sides in the first half, hit back through scores from Matt Gillett and Billy Slater for a 10-4 lead at half-time.
England were the more threatening side in the second half, but were unable to cross the whitewash as Cameron Smith slotted a 75th-minute penalty and Josh Dugan capitalised on a fortunate bounce for a runaway try to give Australia a win that looked far more comfortable on the scoreboard than was the reality in Melbourne.
Along with the loss, England will be concerned after star Sam Burgess limped off the field with what looked like a knee injury.
An intensely physical start saw England score the opening try of the match after their first foray into the Australia half.
Superb play by both Burgess and Sean O'Loughlin created the opportunity before Widdop sent a perfect looping pass out to McGillvary on the right wing, who dove over to touch down in the corner.
From there, the opening half was pretty much all Australia though as wave after wave of Aussie attack descended upon a stretched England defence.
After surviving four consecutive Australia sets of six, in addition to a couple of other dangerous attacks, the England defence was finally breached after 23 minutes through Gillett.
The architect was Smith, who ran the ball laterally five metres out when the entire England defence expected a kick before finding Gillett, who produced a wonderful step off his right foot past a couple of tired England defenders to dive for the line.
Smith's conversion gave Australia the lead and six minutes later they were over again through the classy Slater.
After winning a penalty deep in England territory from an O'Loughin transgression, Australia took a quick-tap which then saw Slater bamboozle a couple of England defenders to touch down.
England were unable to withstand Australia's possession and pressure, along with Smith's superior kicking game, and Bennett's men did well to get in at the break just six points down.
The second half proved a vastly different affair as England grew in confidence but could not find the crucial score that their improvement perhaps warranted.
McGillvary and Ryan Hall proved major threats out wide, James Roby came on and made a big impact, while Luke Gale's kicking game began to have a say.
No score was forthcoming despite good field position for England though and when Smith kicked a penalty with just four minutes remaining, the win was all but secured.
With England pressing for a late score, Dugan was first to claim Widdop's loose kick and ran the length of the pitch to add gloss to a scoreline which proved unreflective of the game as a whole.
Australia next face France on Friday November 3, while England face Lebanon a day later on Saturday November 4.
