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According to leader George Williams, the national team were delivered a harsh "reality check" as the Kangaroos secured the prestigious series.

Australia's 14-4 victory at the Merseyside venue on Saturday gave them a commanding series edge, making the upcoming sold-out third Test a dead rubber.

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

In the past two years, they had achieved a 3-0 series win over Tonga and a 2-0 triumph over the Samoan team. But as the Rugby League Ashes returned after a 22-year absence, the English were failed to advance further against the world champions.

"We take full responsibility. We've had enough training periods to perform correctly on the field, and I don't think we've managed that," the captain stated.

"Australia deserve praise. They proved good defensively. But there's loads to improve. We're probably not as strong as we believed we were going into this series.

"This serves as a valuable reality check for us, and we have plenty to enhance."

The Kangaroos 'Turn Up and Prove Merciless'

Having been soundly beaten in an error-strewn display at the national stadium, Wane side's were much improved on Saturday back in the traditional strongholds of northern England.

During an energetic first half, the home side forced mistakes from the Australians and had dominant territory and ball control, but crucially did not make it count on the points tally.

Tellingly, the English team have now scored just a single touchdown over 160 minutes, with player the forward barging over late on in the setback in the capital.

On the other hand, the Kangaroos have accumulated half a dozen across the series - and when errors began to appear in the hosts' play just after the break, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be heavily penalized.

First Cameron Munster went over, and then so too did the forward. From being tied at 4-4, England were down by double digits.

"Satisfied for the bulk of the game. I thought for most of the match we were good," said Wane.

"The lapse for a brief period after the break cost us immensely. The first try was easy and should not be scored in a top-level game.

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

Although the upcoming global tournament in the Southern Hemisphere is just under next year, the team's short-term goal will be on attempting to restore some pride, preventing a series whitewash and eradicating the issues that frustrated the coach.

"I wanted to see more directed toward the opposition. I wanted us to build pressure in the game - we didn't do that last week," added the veteran coach.

"We managed this week. The issue is a minor refinements in our attack where we could have applied under increased strain. We need to defend both [tries] with greater resolve.

"Credit to Australia - that is not a criticism to them. They perform and are merciless when they get a chance, and we weren't, but defensively we can and should do improve.

"They will be focused to win 3-0 and we need to be obsessed to make it a respectable scoreline. I've told that to the players. This must become our obsession. It's going to be a tough week but the side that desires it the most will get the win next week."

Competitive Edge Needs to Elevate in Super League

The English side have participated in a comparable number of Test matches to Australia since the last World Cup in 2022.

Yet the coach believes that the quality of the NRL - and standard of the domestic rivalry matches between New South Wales and QLD - deliver a more effective foundation for performing at the highest level of the global stage than what is on offer in the northern hemisphere.

The England coach added that the packed domestic league calendar allowed little opportunity for him to train his squad during the campaign, which will only pose additional concerns around how the national team can narrow the difference to the Kangaroos before heading to Oceania in the next World Cup.

"They play a lot of Test matches in their league," he remarked.

"We have 10-15 a year. It's crucial really intense games to enhance the domestic league and improve our chances of succeeding in these types of matches.

"It was impossible to even train with the squad. We never trained together in the season and despite having the total cooperation of everyone in Super League.

"I understand in the boots of the club managers that need to win games. The competition is that congested. It's unfortunate but that's not the cause we lost today."