Australia made it 2-0 in the Ashes to wrap up a series win with a game to spare after edging past a hard-fought display from England at Everton on Saturday afternoon.
Kevin Walters’ side were in a real fight all afternoon but two tries shortly after half-time for Hudson Young and Cameron Munster proved to be pivotal in ending England’s hopes of sending it to Headingley at 1-1 next weekend.
Here are the Kangaroos ratings from the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Reece Walsh: 7
Not as good as last week, though it was hard to live up to what he produced at Wembley. He may well be sweating on availability for Headingley after that late hit on Dom Young that saw him sin-binned.
Mark Nawaqanitawase: 8
Was put under a lot of pressure, particularly in the first half, but did a great job on the edges along with the rest of the three-quarter line for the Kangaroos.
Kotoni Staggs: 7
Some nice touches but in truth, it wasn’t an afternoon for the three-quarters to stand out.
Gehamat Shibasaki: 7
Similar to Staggs; he will have better afternoons to showcase what he can do.
Josh Addo-Carr: 7
Didn’t get a whole heap of opportunities to do what he does best.
Cameron Munster: 7
His try was magnificent and well worth the admission fee. He will have better days on the whole.
Nathan Cleary: 8
Kicked Australia around the field superbly. Not a day for free-flowing attack or stacks of points, so what Cleary did with boot to ball was influential in getting the Kangaroos out of trouble and onto the front foot.
Lindsay Collins: 7
Brought into the starting line-up and had some good dust-ups with England’s middle in that sizzling first 20 minutes, but didn’t come back on.
Harry Grant: 9
An absolute machine in the middle of the field. Would have been man of the match last week if not for Walsh and probably came close to getting it again here.
Tino Fa’asumaleaui: 7
Sin-binned early on but did his part when he returned.
Angus Crichton: 8
The top tackler on the field and another superb performance.
Hudson Young: 9
Probably Australia’s best forward on the day. The try will get the headlines but he was the Kangaroos’ top metre-maker and led from the front magnificently.
Patrick Carrigan: 8
Shifted to 13 and led the pack commendably.
Tom Dearden: 8
Came off the bench at a pivotal time and injected a bit of spark and pep into the Australia attack at the most crucial time, when they scored the two decisive tries.
Lindsay Smith: 6
Wasn’t really on for long enough – just 15 minutes – to have a discernible impact on the contest.
Reuben Cotter: 8
Another who gave the Australians a real spark from the bench in the 50-plus minutes he played.
Keaon Koloamatangi: 7
Gave some good impact from the interchange.
