England fall to defeat in World Cup opener as 22-year wait for win over Australia goes on

Australia 18 England 4: Tries from Matt Gillett, Billy Slater and Josh Dugan helped the Kangaroos to a 14-point victory in front of 22,724 fans in Melbourne

England fell to defeat in the World Cup opener despite a gallant effort (Getty)

England are still searching for their first win over Australia in 22 years after going down 18-4 in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup opener in Melbourne.

Tries to Kangaroo trio Matt Gillett, Billy Slater and Josh Dugan was enough to cancel out Jermaine McGillvary’s score in the fifth minute and notch a 14-point victory in front of 22,724 fans. Most worrying for England was the first half loss of star forward Sam Burgess for three to four weeks with a medial ligament complaint.

Burgess is now in a race to be fit for the final on December, but England coach Wayne Bennett is remaining positive despite the double blow of his injury and the defeat.

McGillvary opened the scoring for the visitors (Getty)

“"We've a quality footy team here. Sam's always going to be a loss to any team,” Bennett admitted. “But we managed for 60 minutes without him tonight and we didn't seem to lose a lot of momentum."

"I'm pretty happy with it overall actually. It was a top effort by the guys, they've improved a lot since London. Compared to London, there's no comparison. They hung in there really good despite some tricky situations. played some good football, reduced their errors, still not where we want to be but a huge improvement.

"Tonight wasn't a destination, it was part of a journey, we want to remind ourselves of that. The next four of five weeks to get all these little things right."

Burgess was forced off and could miss the remainder of the tournament (Getty)

England’s tournament started with promise after Huddersfield flyer McGillvary touched down out wide. Wayne Bennett’s side started with intent and promise, testing the Kangaroos out with ball movement around the field. It paid off when Gareth Widdop found McGillvary in acres of space on the right wing and he scored with ease.

But that was good as it got for the men in white, with Australia responding in customary ruthless fashion. First the Kangaroos built pressure by forcing a number of goal-line dropouts. Then skipper Cameron Smith scooted out of dummy half and Gillett stepped Luke Gale on his way to the try-line. Smith’s conversion gave the hosts a 6-4 lead.

With England’s errors and missed tackles mounting up, Billy Slater was the next to cross. The Aussies caught England’s right edge napping and Slater dummied and sneaked over. It was the old Melbourne Storm and Queensland connection of Smith and Slater that once again proved pivotal in England’s downfall, just like it has for the past decade.

Things went from bad to nightmarish when main attraction and NRL superstar Burgess was brought off with a knee injury in the 36th minute and headed straight up the tunnel. The match-winning forward did not return and his involvement in the rest of the World Cup is now in serious doubt.

The excellent Slater scored for the hosts (Getty)

The first half finished with McGillvary foiling another Australia attack and the score remaining at 10-4. The visitors had received four less sets than their opponents and missed a staggering 22 tackles, proving they were somewhat fortunate to only be six points behind.

In the second half the Kangaroos sought to strike again and put England to bed. But the handling of both sides let them down, with fullback Jonny Lomax blowing a rare opportunity on Australia’s try-line. England started to claw their way back into the contest on the back of some dangerous forays from the impressive McGillvary.

Lomax and Ryan Hall also went close but some desperate Aussie defence kept him at bay. James Roby was brought on from the bench and gave England’s attack a well-timed boost. As the clock ticked down neither side could break the drought.

Australia edged further in front with five minutes left thanks to a Smith penalty goal. That eight-point buffer looked like it would be enough to finally sink England. But then right before full-time Gareth Widdop launched the ball high to the right wing to try and catch the Aussies napping. But centre Josh Dugan caught the loose ball and racing away 80 metres to score.

Dugan raced clear late to seal the win for the Kangaroos (Getty)

England’s hopes were dashed and the long wait for a breakthrough against the Kangaroos goes on and on.

Australia coach Mal Meninga complimented England’s performance but warned his side will get better.

“I thought England’s ball movement was excellent, it put us under pressure, particularly on our edges,” he said. “I think both teams have got improvement in them. You’ve got to remember, like Cameron’s [Smith] an example he hasn’t played for a month. So through the course of the competition both teams will improve.

“But it was a really important victory for us tonight because it sets up our campaign. I thought it was a great way to kick off the Rugby League World Cup, to have the two oldest foes going head to head and it was a great challenge for us and I thought we handled it really well.”

England continue their World Cup on Saturday when they take on Lebanon in Sydney. They know they cannot afford another mishap in this tournament if they are to end their 45-year World Cup drought.