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According to skipper George Williams, England were delivered a harsh "reality check" as Australia clinched the coveted Ashes trophy.

Australia's 14-4 victory at the Merseyside venue on the weekend gave them a 2-0 series lead, making next week's Headingley encounter a meaningless fixture.

The national squad had entered the series holding aspirations of sending Australia to their first Ashes series defeat since over five decades ago.

In the past two years, they had achieved a dominant victory over the Tongan side and a series win over Samoa. But as the prestigious competition returned after a two-decade hiatus, the English were unable to take the next step against the top-ranked team.

"No excuses from us. There were enough preparations to execute properly on the pitch, and I don't think we've achieved that," the captain commented.

"Australia deserve praise. They were strong in defense. But there's plenty to work on. It seems not as good as we expected we were entering this series.

"This serves as a good lesson for us, and there is much to develop."

Australia 'Arrive and Are Ruthless'

Having been heavily outplayed in an mistake-ridden performance at the national stadium, Wane side's were significantly better on the weekend back in the traditional strongholds of the North.

During an energetic first half, the home side elicited errors from the Kangaroos and had all the field position and possession, but importantly did not capitalize on the scoreboard.

Significantly, the English team have now scored just one try over two full matches, with player the forward scoring late on in the setback in the capital.

In contrast, the Kangaroos have racked up six so far - and when errors began to creep into the England's play just after the break, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be severely punished.

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

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

"The drop in intensity for a brief period after half-time hurt us greatly. The first try was soft and should never happen in a Test match.

"We're heartbroken. So proud the players had a dig but very frustrated with that post-interval, which proved costly dearly."

While the upcoming global tournament in Oceania is just under a year from now, England's short-term goal will be on trying to regain respect, avoiding a series whitewash and addressing the mistakes that annoyed the coach.

"I wanted to see additional intensity directed toward Australia. My aim was us to build pressure in the game - we fell short last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We managed this week. The issue is a lack of precision in our offense where we could have applied under more pressure. It's essential to stop each of [tries] better.

"Credit to Australia - that is no slight to them. They turn up and are clinical when they capitalize, and we failed to be, but defensively we can and should do better.

"They will be determined to win all three Tests and we need to be just as focused to make it 2-1. I've told that to the squad. This must become our primary goal. It's going to be a challenging week but whoever strives for it the most will secure victory next week."

Competitive Edge Must to Elevate in Super League

England have played a similar number of Test matches to the Kangaroos since the previous global tournament in 2022.

However the coach argues that the caliber of the NRL - and quality of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and QLD - provide a more effective foundation for competing at the highest level of the international game than what is on offer in the UK.

Wane noted that the hectic Super League fixture schedule allowed little opportunity for him to train his squad during the campaign, which will only pose further questions around how England can bridge the gap to Australia before travelling to Oceania in the next World Cup.

"The Australians participate in a large number of internationals in their competition," Wane stated.

"England have ten to fifteen a year. We need demanding games to boost the competition and increase our chances of winning these types of matches.

"I couldn't even train with the squad. We never got on the field in the season and I had the complete support of all clubs in Super League.

"I understand in the boots of the club managers that must to win games. The league is that tight. It's a pity but that's not the reason we got beaten today."