England lost the second Ashes Test against Australia at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium 14-4 on Saturday afternoon, and have now lost the series.
Shaun Wane’s side must now try to avoid suffering a 3-0 series whitewash as they host the Kangaroos at Headingley next weekend.
Live from the press box on Merseyside, our England ratings…
AJ Brimson – 6
Thrust in for an England debut in place of Jack Welsby. Brimson was certainly more effective than Welsby was, and his kick chase earned the penalty which levelled things up on the stroke of half-time, but he faded in the second half, like a lot of his team-mates.
Dom Young – 7
Sin-binned two minutes in for his alleged leading involvement in a scuffle, alongside Australia’s Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, but we didn’t mind seeing that spark lit. Young was England’s biggest threat in the backs, in our opinion. His efforts at least saw Reece Walsh shown yellow late on. Picked up a knock in the closing stages.
Herbie Farnworth – 6
We were left underwhelmed by Farnworth, who never really managed to break at the Kangaroos’ line with any force.
Jake Wardle – 6
The same goes for centre partner Wardle, in truth. An exceptional last-gasp tackle to deny Hudson Young late on, though.
Tom Johnstone – 6
It was a solid first half showing from Johnstone, but he didn’t have a second half to remember. A fumble into touch, albeit from a poor George Williams pass led to the first try of the afternoon from Cameron Munster, and he then mistimed his jump as Hudson Young strolled in for the second. Also put into touch after that, again though after a woeful ball from Williams.
George Williams – 6
If we did halves, it’d be a 5.5 for the England skipper. Williams was good in the first half, particularly in his short kicking game, but he had a dreadful second 40. At fault for Munster’s opening try, his passing became wayward and desperate. Not one to remember.
Harry Smith – 7
Like most, Smith faded in the second half, but he showed enough to prove that it was the right call to put him in over Mikey Lewis. Responsible for all of England’s points from the tee. His one poor moment came from a skewed kick which put the hosts under pressure and eventually ended up with Hudson Young scoring.
Mike McMeeken – 8
We all asked England’s forward pack to step it up a few notches after last weekend, and they did that. We thought McMeeken was superb.
Jez Litten – 7
7.5, if we did halves. The right call to throw Litten in from the off, and the Hull KR star showed no fear. A couple of trademark darts out of dummy half. 69-minute stint.
Matty Lees – 8
England’s man-of-the-match, for us. Lees was dominant and came up with a couple of big moments. Forcing a knock on out of Fa’asuamaleaui on the half-hour mark felt important at the time. It didn’t prove that way, but the Saints prop can hold his head high here.
Kallum Watkins – 6
A solid defensive showing from Watkins, but we didn’t see enough of him with the ball in hand.
Kai Pearce-Paul – 7
Only spent six minutes off the field in total, a solid showing and a step up from what we saw last weekend at Wembley.
Morgan Knowles – 8
Terrific from Knowles throughout, who – like Lees – we considered giving a 9. Absolutely solid in defence and looked like he’d scored the opening try in the first half only to be denied by the officials, probably rightly so. Played all bar 13 minutes, and won’t be out of place next year in the NRL.
Mikey Lewis (Interchange) – N/A
What is the point in having Lewis on the bench? Brought on 11 minutes from time with little chance to impact things. Either put him in your halves or leave him out. And that, by the way, is no slight on him.
Alex Walmsley (Interchange) – 7
We only saw 17 minutes worth of Walmsley, which is why he’s not rated higher. Was good while he was on, barring a knock on which England got away with.
Morgan Smithies (Interchange) – 8
Good work from Smithies, who came on and got into the Aussies’ face immediately. The impact off the bench England needed.
Mikolaj Oledzki (Interchange) – 5
The exact opposite from Oledzki, who we’re not sure we’ll see next week at Headingley after a rather underwhelming 16-minute second half stint.
