HUDSON YOUNG says Australia are out to whitewash England 3-0 in the Ashes after grabbing a tough 14-4 win in Liverpool.
The Kangaroos retained the Ashes after a strong second-half performance was enough to get the result in the tight second Test at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
“It’s pretty surreal,” Young said after the game.
“As a kid growing up, I’d set the alarms and watch these games. To be a part of it, such a special team and to wear the green and gold – there’s no better feeling.
“It was a physical game and that’s what you expect from a Test match. Anytime you come up against England you expect it to be like that. It was everything we prepared for.
“We prepared really well throughout the week, and I’m sure if we didn’t prepare that well we probably wouldn’t have got the job done.”
England started well and the score was locked at 4-4 at half-time. But Australia stepped up a gear in the second stanza and scored two tries, with the forward touching down for the final four-pointer.
That was enough for Australia to continue their dominance in the Ashes they have maintained since 1973.
“England ramped up the intensity for sure and I thought we matched it pretty well,” he said.
“But we probably went away from playing our style of footy for a bit and went head-to-head with them.
“The emotion probably got the better of us, but you’d rather go that way than the other way. We’ll have a look at that and make sure we prepared well and make it 3-0.”
Young’s Canberra teammate Morgan Smithies came off the bench in the second Test and had a strong impact for England.
“Big Morgs is a beast,” said Young.
“I see what he does every day at Canberra and I respect him on and off the field. I was surprised he didn’t play in the first game. Obviously I get to see what he does at clubland and I thought he was outstanding tonight.”
The series now heads to Headingley and Young insists the Kangaroos won’t be easing off.
“We just need to prepare well again,” he said.
“You see in Origin series when there’s three games, not many teams go through 3-0 and that’s what we want to do.
“We’ve come over to set that standard and that’s what we want to achieve.”