It was an ugly outing for England in the first Test of the 2025 Ashes series, conceding 26 points on their way to a one-sided thrashing.
The home side entered the contest with extreme confidence which was reflected in the back-and-forth exchanges between both camps in the media during the week.
However, on the night they struggled to capitalise on the Kangaroos' errors, making 10 mistakes of their own.
MORE: Kangaroos coach confident after Australia 'handled the pressure' of Ashes opener
Head coach Shaun Wane was understandably frustrated with the brand of football that his team played throughout the 80 minutes, describing it as something akin to 'torture.'
"We undersold ourselves and that’s torture for me," he said.
"It was poor. I know what they’re capable of but I don’t think we really gave ourselves a chance.
"Australia were the best team, no question about that, and it hurts – a lot.
"We were desperate to put on a show and we didn’t do that, but the things we did wrong are easy fixes."
It was always going to be a monumental challenge to take down the world champions, but England looked tense when their moments arrived, raising questions about what needs to change heading into games two and three.
"I saw an apprehensive team and that is down to us as coaches," said Wane.
"We have created that environment and we will take a look at that. We were anxious and nervous.
"We made line breaks and weren’t clinical but they made line breaks and were clinical.
"We were not there today. We did things today I didn’t think we were capable of but we will fix it."
England has seven days to go back to the drawing board and correct their mistakes as they head to Liverpool for a do-or-die clash.