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As stated by leader the England captain, England were given a harsh "reality check" as the Kangaroos won the prestigious series.

Australia's decisive 14-4 win at the Merseyside venue on the weekend gave them a 2-0 series lead, making next week's Headingley encounter a dead rubber.

Shaun Wane's side had entered the series dreaming of inflicting Australia to their first Ashes series defeat since the 1970s.

Recently, they had enjoyed a clean sweep over Tonga and a series win over the Samoan team. But as the Rugby League Ashes resumed after a two-decade hiatus, England were unable to make the leap against the top-ranked team.

"We take full responsibility. We've had enough training periods to get it right on the field, and it's clear we've achieved that," the captain commented.

"Full marks to the Kangaroos. They were excellent in defense. But there's a lot to address. We're probably not as prepared as we expected we were entering this series.

"This serves as a necessary wake-up call for us, and we have plenty to improve on."

Australia 'Arrive and Prove Ruthless'

Having been heavily outplayed in an error-strewn display at Wembley, Wane side's were much improved on the weekend back in the core regions of the North.

In a rousing first half, the home side forced mistakes from the Australians and had superior positioning and ball control, but importantly did not capitalize on the points tally.

Significantly, England have now managed just one score over the series so far, with St Helens hooker the forward scoring late on in the loss in the capital.

On the other hand, the Kangaroos have racked up six in two games - and when mistakes began to creep into the England's play just after the break, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be made to pay.

First Cameron Munster crossed, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being tied at 4-4, the home side were down by double digits.

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

"The switch off for 10 minutes after the break damaged us immensely. The first try was easy and should never happen in a Test match.

"We're heartbroken. So proud the squad had a fight but so disappointed with that second-half lapse, which hurt us dearly."

While the next World Cup in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under a year from now, England's immediate focus will be on trying to salvage honor, preventing a clean sweep and eliminating the mistakes that frustrated Wane.

"I hoped to see additional intensity directed toward the opposition. My aim was us to apply sustained attack in the game - we fell short last week," added the veteran coach.

"We managed this week. The issue is a lack of precision in our offensive play where we could have put them under more pressure. It's essential to defend both [tries] better.

"Fair play to the Kangaroos - that is no detriment to them. They arrive and are ruthless when they capitalize, and we failed to be, but in defense we can and should do improve.

"They will be determined to win 3-0 and we need to be equally determined to make it a respectable scoreline. I've told that to the players. It has to be our obsession. It will be a tough week but the side that wants it the greatest will emerge victorious next week."

Intensity Must to Elevate in Domestic Competition

The English side have participated in a comparable number of Test matches to the Kangaroos since the last World Cup in recent years.

Yet the coach believes that the caliber of the Australian league - and level of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and QLD - provide a superior grounding for competing at the highest level of the international game than what is on offer in the UK.

The England coach noted that the congested Super League calendar left little opportunity for him to train his team during the campaign, which will only pose more issues around how the national team can bridge the gap to the Kangaroos before travelling to the Southern Hemisphere in 2026.

"They play a large number of internationals in their competition," he remarked.

"England play 10-15 a year. We need really intense games to enhance the domestic league and increase our prospects of winning these sorts of games.

"It was impossible to even practice with the squad. There was no chance to trained together in the campaign and despite having the complete support of all clubs in Super League.

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