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As stated by leader the England captain, the national team were handed a stark "sobering lesson" as Australia secured the Rugby League Ashes.

Australia's decisive 14-4 win at the stadium in Liverpool on the weekend gave them a unassailable 2-0 advantage, making next week's sold-out third Test a meaningless fixture.

The England team had come into the series holding aspirations of sending Australia to their maiden Ashes setback since over five decades ago.

Over the last 24 months, they had secured a 3-0 series win over the Tongan side and a series win over Samoa. But as the prestigious competition returned after a two-decade hiatus, the English were failed to take the next step against the top-ranked team.

"No excuses from us. There were enough training periods to perform correctly on the pitch, and I don't think we've managed that," the captain stated.

"Australia deserve praise. They were strong defensively. But we've got plenty to improve. We're probably not as good as we thought we were entering this series.

"So it's a necessary reality check for us, and there is much to develop."

Australia 'Show Up and Prove Ruthless'

Having been comprehensively defeated in an mistake-ridden performance at the national stadium, Wane side's were markedly enhanced on Saturday back in the core regions of the North.

In a rousing first half, the home side caused turnovers from the Kangaroos and had superior positioning and possession, but importantly did not convert opportunities on the scoreboard.

Significantly, England have now managed just a single touchdown over two full matches, with St Helens hooker the forward scoring late on in the loss in London.

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

First the playmaker 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 70 minutes we were competitive," said Wane.

"The switch off for a brief period after half-time cost us severely. The first try was easy and should never happen in a Test match.

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

While the upcoming global tournament in the Southern Hemisphere is just under 12 months away, England's primary concern will be on trying to restore some pride, avoiding a 3-0 sweep and eliminating the issues that irritated the coach.

"I hoped to see more directed toward Australia. My aim was us to apply sustained attack in the game - we didn't do that last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We did this week. It's just a bit of detail in our offense where we could have applied under more pressure. We need to defend both [tries] better.

"Credit to the Kangaroos - that is no slight to them. They arrive and are merciless when they seize opportunities, and we weren't, but defensively we must do enhance.

"They will be focused to win all three Tests and we need to be just as focused to make it a respectable scoreline. I've said that to the squad. This must become our primary goal. It will be a challenging week but whoever strives for it the greatest will secure victory next week."

Intensity Needs to Increase in Domestic Competition

The English side have participated in a similar number of international fixtures to Australia since the last World Cup in 2022.

Yet the coach argues that the caliber of the NRL - and standard of the State of Origin matches between NSW and Queensland - provide a superior foundation for competing at the top of the international game than what is available in the UK.

The England coach commented that the packed domestic league calendar left little opportunity for him to train his squad during the campaign, which will only pose further questions around how the national team can close the divide to the Kangaroos before travelling to Oceania in 2026.

"They participate in a lot of Test matches in their league," he stated.

"We play ten to fifteen a year. It's crucial really intense games to enhance the competition and boost our prospects of succeeding in these high-stakes fixtures.

"I couldn't even practice with the squad. We never trained together in the campaign and I had the total cooperation of all clubs in the domestic competition.

"I have also been in the position of the club managers that must to win games. The league is that congested. It's unfortunate but that's not the reason we lost today."