It was a case of different day, same result as England’s 22-year hoodoo against Australia continued with an 18-4 defeat in the opening match of the 2017 Rugby League World Cup in Melbourne.

Just like the 2013 tournament, when England fell to the Kangaroos in Cardiff, it was another loss at the hands of the green and gold but one they can take some heart from. They hung on in the contest for longer periods than in the past, and frustrated them with energetic defence.

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Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga complimented England’s ball movement after the match. “It was excellent, it put us under pressure, particularly on our edges,” he said. “I think both teams have got improvement in them.

“But it was a really important victory for us tonight because it sets up our campaign and I guess it puts England under a bit of pressure. 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.”

Australia are favourites to retain the World Cup trophy they currently hold and in the Victorian capital they showed why, giving a merciless display of clinical class and precision play to edge past Wayne Bennett’s side.

From the second tackle when James Graham was hit hard and driven back by four Australian defenders, there was real intent in this match. But it was England who drew first blood, winger Jermaine McGillvary touching down out wide in the fifth minute after Australia’s line was caught short by a terrific cut-out pass from five-eighth Gareth Widdop.

Widdop couldn’t add the extras but the visitors still had a precious 4-0 lead. Australia almost hit back straight away but Cooper Cronk’s wild offload was intercepted by McGillvary.

The Kangaroos forced a drop-out from a Cronk grubber and then another, as they tried to squeeze an error out of England. But England’s wall was stoic as they held the hosts out. The green and gold broke through their line at times but the last pass was found wanting.

In the 23rd minute Cameron Smith scooted out of dummy half and found Matt Gillett in space. The Brisbane second-rower stepped a static Luke Gale with ease and burrowed over to level the scores. Smith’s conversion was on target and Australia took a slender 6-4 lead.

The Kangaroos had started to win the yardage battle, with David Klemmer terrorising in the middle, and a few simple mistakes had forced England into carrying out an arduous amount of tackling. The pressure was building set by set and then Billy Slater dummied and snuck over for the hosts’ second try. Smith was unsuccessful with his second conversion attempt of the night, so the score remained at 10-4, but it began to look ominous for those in white.

It got worse four minutes from half-time when Sam Burgess was brought off with a knee complaint. In a huge blow to England, their talisman, the South Sydney enforcer, will be out for three to four weeks with a medial ligament injury.

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

McGillvary stopped a certain try right before the break when he intercepted a pass on his line. But England had missed 35 tackles in the first half to just 13 from the Kangaroos, and that effort would prove costly in the second half.

After the frenetic pace of the first half both teams took time to catch their breath. After they settled it was England that made more inroads with the ball in hand.

Slater knocked on a Josh Hodgson kick in the 66th minute to give England prime field position. Two tackles later James Roby tried to bulldoze his way over but was held up. In a game of tight margins it was telling. Eventually the set fizzled out and the Kangaroos manage to keep them out.

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As the seagulls of AAMI Park soared it took 35 minutes for either side to score again. And it was Australia who wrapped up the match, Smith kicking a penalty goal to seal the win. Right before full-time Widdop kicked away to the right wing and Josh Dugan pounced on the loose ball, galloping away to rub salt in England’s wounds. Australia’s third try blew the scoreline out and didn’t accurately reflect the English effort.

Despite the result England coach Bennett said he was “pretty happy” with his team’s overall performance. “They were certainly in the game, they were never out of the game. It’s just a case of trying to reinforce some things we have to do. 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.”

The Kangaroos now head to Canberra to face France, while England will take on Lebanon in Sydney. It’s likely they will meet again in the final in five weeks’ time, by which time they may have back their brilliant back-rower Burgess.

