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According to leader George Williams, England were given a brutal "reality check" as the Kangaroos won the coveted Ashes trophy.

The Kangaroos' decisive 14-4 win at the Merseyside venue on Saturday gave them a unassailable 2-0 advantage, making next week's final match in Leeds a meaningless fixture.

The national squad had entered the series holding aspirations of inflicting the Kangaroos to their initial series loss since over five decades ago.

In the past two years, they had secured a 3-0 series win over Tonga and a 2-0 triumph over Samoa. But as the prestigious competition resumed after a long break, the English were unable to make the leap against the top-ranked team.

"We're not making excuses. We've had enough training periods to get it right on the pitch, and I don't think we've quite done that," the captain told.

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

"So it's a good lesson for us, and we have plenty to enhance."

The Kangaroos 'Show Up and Are Ruthless'

After being comprehensively defeated in an mistake-ridden performance at Wembley, Wane side's were significantly better on Saturday back in the traditional strongholds of northern England.

In an inspiring initial stages, the home side caused turnovers from the Australians and had superior positioning and possession, but importantly did not make it count on the scoreboard.

Significantly, England have now managed just a single touchdown over 160 minutes, with player Daryl Clark scoring late on in the defeat in the capital.

On the other hand, the Kangaroos have scored six across the series - and when blunders began to affect the England's play just after the break, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be made to pay.

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

"Satisfied for the bulk of the game. In my view for most of the match we were good," said Wane.

"The lapse for a brief period after half-time hurt us immensely. Munster's try was avoidable and should not be scored in a international fixture.

"The team is devastated. Extremely pleased the players had a go but so disappointed with that second-half lapse, which cost us heavily."

Although the upcoming global tournament in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under next year, England's immediate focus will be on attempting to regain respect, preventing a 3-0 sweep and eradicating the mistakes that irritated the coach.

"I wanted to see greater effort thrown at Australia. I wanted us to build pressure in the game - we fell short last week," added the veteran coach.

"We managed this week. The issue is a minor refinements in our offense where we could have put them under increased strain. It's essential to defend both [tries] with greater resolve.

"Fair play to Australia - that is not a criticism to them. They perform and are clinical when they capitalize, and we weren't, but defensively we must do improve.

"The Australians will be focused to win the series whitewash and we need to be obsessed to make it a competitive series. I've told that to the players. This must become our main aim. It's going to be a challenging week but the side that desires it the greatest will emerge victorious next week."

Intensity Must to Increase in Super League

England have participated in a similar number of Test matches to the Kangaroos since the previous global tournament in recent years.

However the coach thinks that the quality of the NRL - and level of the domestic rivalry matches between New South Wales and Queensland - deliver a superior foundation for performing at the top of the international game than what is on offer in the Europe.

The England coach noted that the hectic Super League fixture schedule left no time for him to work with his players during the season, which will only pose further questions around how England can bridge the gap to Australia before heading to the Southern Hemisphere in 2026.

"The Australians participate in a large number of internationals in their competition," he added.

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

"I couldn't even train with the squad. We never got on the field in the campaign and I had the full backing of everyone in Super League.

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