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As stated by leader George Williams, the national team were delivered a stark "sobering lesson" as Australia secured the prestigious series.

Australia's 14-4 victory at the Merseyside venue on Saturday gave them a commanding series edge, making next week's final match in Leeds a academic contest.

The England team had entered the series holding aspirations of inflicting Australia to their maiden Ashes setback since the 1970s.

In the past two years, they had secured a clean sweep over the Tongan side and a success over Samoa. But as the Rugby League Ashes returned after a long break, the English were unable to advance further against the world champions.

"No excuses from us. There were enough training periods to get it right on the field, and I don't think we've quite done that," the captain stated.

"Australia deserve praise. They proved strong in defense. But there's loads to work on. We're probably not as strong as we believed we were entering this series.

"So it's a necessary wake-up call for us, and [there is] loads to enhance."

The Kangaroos 'Turn Up and Are Merciless'

Having been soundly beaten in an sloppy showing at the national stadium, England's were much improved on Saturday back in the rugby league heartlands of England's north.

During an energetic initial stages, England elicited errors from the Kangaroos and had all the field position and possession, but unfortunately did not make it count on the points tally.

Tellingly, the English team have now scored just a single touchdown over two full matches, with St Helens hooker Daryl Clark scoring late on in the setback in the capital.

In contrast, the Kangaroos have accumulated half a dozen in two games - and when mistakes began to affect the hosts' play just after the break, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be made to pay.

Initially Cameron Munster scored, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being level at 4-4, England were 10 points adrift.

"Proud for the majority of the game. In my view for most of the match we were solid," said the coach.

"The switch off for 10 minutes after the break cost us severely. The first try was soft and should never happen in a international fixture.

"The team is devastated. Extremely pleased the squad had a dig but very frustrated with that after half-time, which proved costly dearly."

While the next World Cup in Oceania is just under 12 months away, the team's primary concern will be on trying to regain respect, preventing a 3-0 sweep and eliminating the mistakes that annoyed the coach.

"I hoped to see more directed toward the opposition. My aim was us to maintain momentum in the game - we fell short last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We did this week. The issue is a bit of detail in our attack where we could have applied under more pressure. It's essential to defend both [tries] more effectively.

"Credit to Australia - that is no detriment to them. They turn up and are merciless when they seize opportunities, and we failed to be, but in defense we must do better.

"They will be focused to win 3-0 and we need to be obsessed to make it 2-1. I've told that to the players. It has to be our primary goal. It's going to be a tough week but the side that wants it the most will emerge victorious next week."

Intensity Needs to Improve in Super League

England have played a similar number of international fixtures to Australia since the previous global tournament in 2022.

However the coach believes that the strength of the Australian league - and quality of the State of Origin matches between NSW and QLD - offer a much better foundation for competing at the top of the global stage than what is on offer in the northern hemisphere.

Wane commented that the packed domestic league fixture list left no time for him to coach his squad during the campaign, which will only pose further questions around how the national team can bridge the gap to Australia before heading to the Southern Hemisphere in the next World Cup.

"They play a large number of internationals in their league," he added.

"We have 10-15 a year. We need demanding games to enhance the competition and increase our prospects of succeeding in these types of matches.

"It was impossible to even train with the squad. There was no chance to got on the field in the season and I had the full backing of all clubs in the domestic competition.

"I understand in the position of the club managers that must to win games. The league is that tight. It's a pity but that's not the cause we were defeated today."