Australia will need a new captain for the second Ashes Test after Isaah Yeo suffered a concussion during the first half of the series opener at Wembley Stadium.

The loss of the Penrith Panthers lock forward couldn't stop the Kangaroos from claiming a 20-point win over the Lions, who were clunky right throughout the contest.

Neither team started all that well in what was a physical game with few stoppages, although an exceptionally slow ruck speed that is sure to be a talking point heading into next weekend, when Australian referee Grant Atkins will take over from English referee Liam Moore.

AS IT HAPPENED: Kangaroos vs England first Test blog, commentary

The slow ruck speed may well have kept a physical English side in the game throughout the contest, but even that couldn't help during the second half.

It took a - understandably - clunky Australian side who didn't have a practice match or more than a week of preparation ahead of the series opener 28 minutes to find the opening try.

That may well have come off an obstruction that wasn't penalised by the video referee, with Reece Walsh crossing.

The home side had more than their share of opportunities during the first 40 minutes, but ultimately couldn't find a way over the tryline, with Nathan Cleary icing a penalty goal on the stroke of halftime to hand the Kangaroos an 8-0 lead at the break.

In front of the biggest Ashes UK rugby league crowd in history, England came out of the break crawling, with Australia playing expansive rugby league.

A long-range first set handed them momentum, before Angus Crichton crashed over for a try in the 44th minute.

Both teams continued to squander opportunities in the immediate aftermath, but it was Crichton again who put the game beyond doubt in the 66th minute with a long range try through broken and backpedalling defence.

Walsh would score a double of his own just six minutes later on his way to winning man of the match honours, before England managed to get on the board with a soft consolation try of their own to dummy half Daryl Clark.

England will have plenty of soul searching to do before next week, with Morgan Smithies and AJ Brimson two players likely to be called into the side one way or another, while Australia, with the series lead, can weigh up whether changes apart from replacing their concussed captain are required.

Match summary

England 6 (Try: Daryl Clark; Conversion: Mikey Lewis 1/1) defeated by Australia 26 (Tries: Reece Walsh [2], Angus Crichton [2]; Conversions: Nathan Cleary 4/4; Penalty Goal: Nathan Cleary 1/1)