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In the words of skipper George Williams, England were handed a stark "sobering lesson" as the Kangaroos secured the coveted Ashes trophy.

Australia's 14-4 victory at the stadium in Liverpool on the weekend gave them a commanding series edge, making next week's sold-out third Test a academic contest.

Shaun Wane's side had entered the series holding aspirations of sending Australia to their first Ashes series defeat since over five decades ago.

Recently, they had enjoyed a clean sweep over Tonga and a series win over the Samoan team. But as the prestigious competition resumed after a long break, England were failed to make the leap against the top-ranked team.

"We take full responsibility. We've had enough preparations to get it right on the pitch, and I don't think we've quite done that," the captain commented.

"Full marks to the Kangaroos. They were strong defensively. But we've got a lot to address. It seems not as prepared as we believed we were going into this series.

"This serves as a good reality check for us, and there is much to improve on."

Australia 'Turn Up and Prove Ruthless'

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

In an inspiring initial stages, England caused turnovers from the Kangaroos and had dominant territory and possession, but crucially did not make it count on the points tally.

Notably, the English team have now managed just a single touchdown over 160 minutes, with St Helens hooker Daryl Clark powering through late on in the loss in London.

On the other hand, Australia have scored six across the series - and when mistakes began to appear in the hosts' play just after the half-time, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be made to pay.

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

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

"The switch off for a brief period after half-time hurt us immensely. Munster's try was soft and should never happen in a top-level game.

"The team is deeply disappointed. So proud the players had a go but so disappointed with that after half-time, which hurt us heavily."

While the upcoming global tournament in Oceania is just under 12 months away, England's immediate focus will be on attempting to regain respect, preventing a series whitewash and eradicating the errors that annoyed the coach.

"I wanted to see additional intensity thrown at Australia. I wanted us to maintain momentum in the game - we didn't do that last week," added the veteran coach.

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

"Fair play to Australia - that is no detriment to them. They perform and are merciless when they get a chance, and we failed to be, but in defense we must do improve.

"They will be obsessed to win 3-0 and we need to be obsessed to make it a competitive series. I've told that to the squad. This must become our main aim. It will be a challenging week but the side that desires it the most will secure victory next week."

Competitive Edge Must to Increase in Domestic Competition

England have played a similar number of Test matches to Australia since the last World Cup in recent years.

However the coach thinks that the quality of the NRL - and standard of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and Queensland - deliver 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 congested domestic league fixture list allowed little opportunity for him to coach his players during the season, which will only raise more issues around how the national team can narrow the difference to the Kangaroos before heading to Oceania in 2026.

"They participate in a large number of Test matches in their league," he remarked.

"England have ten to fifteen a year. It's crucial demanding games to boost the competition and boost our prospects of succeeding in these high-stakes fixtures.

"I couldn't even train with the squad. There was no chance to trained together in the campaign and I had the total cooperation of all clubs in Super League.

"I have also been in the position of the head coaches that need to win games. The league is that congested. It's a pity but that's not the reason we were defeated today."