Australia ease past England and secure rugby league series sweep

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LEEDS, England (AP) — Australia completed a rugby league Ashes whitewash of England after Reece Walsh's late double sealed a comfortable 30-8 win in the third test at Headingley on Saturday.

The Kangaroos never looked required to snap out of second gear, stepping up on cue to confirm victory through three second-half tries after England briefly elbowed its way back into the contest.

Australia also won the previous series 3-0 in 2003 and achieved successive Ashes clean sweeps for the first time since 1986.

Harry Grant's dangerous break in the first set set the tone for Australia and errors gifted Cameron Munster the chance to fling wide for Josh Addo-Carr to score the opener inside five minutes.

Nudged further behind by the first of Nathan Cleary’s five successful kicks, England endured another major blow when AJ Brimson went off with an apparent shoulder injury, leaving coach Shaun Wane little other option but to send in Mikey Lewis in an unfamiliar fullback role.

Lewis' discomfort at the back became evident just before the half-hour mark when he swiped a foot at Munster's kick through, giving Hudson Young the chance to score and Cleary to boot Australia into a 12-0 lead.

The game already looked as good as done for England until Jez Litten lit up Headingley in the 34th minute, driving through the middle before dribbling a kick that captain George Williams was quickest to react to. Harry Smith’s conversion followed by a penalty after the halftime hooter gave the hosts unlikely hope at 12-8 down.

England’s best spell ensued until its effort came to waste just past the hour mark when Grant bustled over all too easily from a play-the-ball in front of the posts and Cleary's third kick restored Australia's 10-point lead.

Australia put the seal on the series whitewash 12 minutes from time when Harry Newman's attempt to intercept a pass fell fortuitously for Walsh to trot over unchallenged. His second try late on came amid calls from some of the 19,500 crowd for Wane's removal.

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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby