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As stated by leader George Williams, England were delivered a harsh "reality check" as Australia secured the coveted Ashes trophy.

Australia's 14-4 triumph at the Merseyside venue on the weekend gave them a unassailable 2-0 advantage, making next week's final match in Leeds a meaningless fixture.

The England team had come into the series harbouring hopes of inflicting the Kangaroos to their initial series loss since 1970.

Over the last 24 months, they had enjoyed a 3-0 series win over the Tongan side and a series win over Samoa. But as the Rugby League Ashes returned after a long break, the English were failed to take the next step against the world champions.

"We take full responsibility. There were enough preparations to get it right on the field, and it's clear we've quite done that," the captain told.

"Credit to Australia. They proved strong in defense. But there's loads to work on. We're probably not as strong as we thought we were going into this series.

"So it's a good reality check for us, and we have plenty to enhance."

Australia 'Turn Up and Are Merciless'

Having been soundly beaten in an sloppy showing at the national stadium, Wane side's were much improved on the weekend back in the core regions of the North.

In a rousing opening period, the home side caused turnovers from the Kangaroos and had dominant territory and ball control, but unfortunately did not convert opportunities on the points tally.

Notably, England have now managed just a single touchdown over 160 minutes, with player Daryl Clark powering through late on in the loss in the capital.

In contrast, the Kangaroos have racked up half a dozen in two games - and when mistakes began to creep into the England's play just after the break, it was a case of certainty, they were going to be heavily penalized.

First the playmaker scored, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being tied at four-all, England were down by double digits.

"Proud for the bulk of the game. In my view for most of the match we were good," said Wane.

"The lapse for 10 minutes after the break cost us greatly. Munster's try was soft and should never happen in a Test match.

"We're devastated. Extremely pleased the players had a dig but so disappointed with that after half-time, which hurt us significantly."

While the upcoming global tournament in the Southern Hemisphere is just under 12 months away, England's immediate focus will be on trying to restore some pride, preventing a clean sweep and addressing the mistakes that irritated the coach.

"I hoped to see more thrown at the opposition. I wanted us to apply sustained attack in the game - we fell short last week," added the veteran coach.

"We did this week. It's just a minor refinements in our offensive play where we could have put them under greater stress. We need to defend both [tries] with greater resolve.

"Credit to the Kangaroos - that is not a criticism to them. They perform and are ruthless when they seize opportunities, and we failed to be, but in defense we must do enhance.

"They will be determined to win all three Tests and we need to be just as focused to make it a competitive series. I've told that to the squad. This must become our primary goal. It will be a tough week but whoever wants it the most will secure victory next week."

Intensity Must to Improve in Domestic Competition

The English side have participated in a similar number of international fixtures to the Kangaroos since the previous global tournament in 2022.

However the coach believes that the quality of the Australian league - and level of the domestic rivalry matches between New South Wales and QLD - deliver a superior grounding for competing at the highest level of the global stage than what is on offer in the UK.

Wane noted that the hectic domestic league calendar left no time for him to coach his squad during the season, which will only pose further questions around how the national team can narrow the difference to Australia before travelling to the Southern Hemisphere in 2026.

"The Australians play a large number of Test matches in their competition," he added.

"We play 10-15 a year. It's crucial highly competitive games to enhance the domestic league and improve our chances of winning these types of matches.

"I couldn't even train with the squad. There was no chance to trained together in the campaign and despite having the total cooperation of everyone in Super League.

"I have also been in the boots of the head coaches that must to win games. The competition is that congested. It's unfortunate but it's not the cause we got beaten today."