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In the words of leader the England captain, the national team were delivered a harsh "sobering lesson" as Australia secured the prestigious series.

Australia's 14-4 victory at the Merseyside venue on Saturday gave them a commanding series edge, making next week's sold-out third Test a meaningless fixture.

Shaun Wane's side had come into the series dreaming of inflicting Australia to their maiden Ashes setback since over five decades ago.

In the past two years, they had enjoyed a 3-0 series win over the Tongan side and a 2-0 triumph over Samoa. But as the historic rivalry resumed after a two-decade hiatus, England were failed to advance further against the world champions.

"We take full responsibility. We've had enough training periods to perform correctly on the pitch, and it's clear we've managed that," the captain told.

"Full marks to the Kangaroos. They proved good in defense. But we've got plenty to improve. We're probably not as prepared as we thought we were entering this series.

"This serves as a necessary reality check for us, and [there is] loads to improve on."

The Kangaroos 'Arrive and Are Clinical'

After being heavily outplayed in an error-strewn display at Wembley, Wane side's were markedly enhanced on Saturday back in the rugby league heartlands of England's north.

In an inspiring first half, the home side forced mistakes from the Kangaroos and had dominant territory and ball control, but crucially did not make it count on the scoreboard.

Notably, the English team have now managed just one try over the series so far, with player the forward powering through late on in the defeat in the capital.

In contrast, the Kangaroos have scored six in two games - and when blunders began to appear in the England's play just after the interval, it was a case of certainty, they were going to be heavily penalized.

Initially the playmaker went over, and then so too did the forward. From being tied at four-all, England were down by double digits.

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

"The drop in intensity for a brief period after the break damaged us immensely. The first try was easy and should not be scored in a international fixture.

"We're deeply disappointed. Extremely pleased the players had a go but so disappointed with that after half-time, which cost us heavily."

Although 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 restore some pride, preventing a clean sweep and addressing the issues that irritated the coach.

"I wanted to see additional intensity directed toward the opposition. I wanted us to apply sustained attack in the game - we failed to deliver last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We did this week. The issue is a minor refinements in our offense where we could have applied under greater stress. We need to stop each of [tries] with greater resolve.

"Fair play to Australia - that is not a criticism to them. They arrive and are clinical when they seize opportunities, and we failed to be, but defensively we can and should do improve.

"The Australians will be determined to win 3-0 and we need to be just as focused to make it a competitive series. I've said that to the squad. It has to be our obsession. It will be a challenging week but whoever wants it the most will emerge victorious next week."

Intensity Must to Elevate in Domestic Competition

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

Yet Wane thinks that the caliber of the NRL - and level of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and Queensland - deliver a much better grounding for performing at the top of the global stage than what is available in the northern hemisphere.

The England coach noted that the hectic Super League fixture list allowed little opportunity for him to train his team during the season, which will only pose more issues around how the national team can narrow the difference to the Kangaroos before travelling to Oceania in the next World Cup.

"They participate in a lot of internationals in their league," Wane stated.

"England play ten to fifteen a year. We need highly competitive games to enhance the competition and increase our chances of winning these sorts of games.

"It was impossible to even practice with the players. There was no chance to got on the field in the campaign and despite having the complete support of all clubs in Super League.

"I understand in the position of the club managers that need to win games. The league is that packed. It's unfortunate but it's not the cause we were defeated today."