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In the words of leader George Williams, England were given a harsh "sobering lesson" as Australia clinched the Rugby League Ashes.

The Kangaroos' 14-4 victory at the Merseyside venue on Saturday gave them a unassailable 2-0 advantage, making the upcoming sold-out third Test a academic contest.

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

Recently, they had secured a clean sweep over Tonga and a series win over the Samoan team. But as the prestigious competition resumed after a two-decade hiatus, England were unable to advance further against the top-ranked team.

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

"Australia deserve praise. They were strong defensively. But there's a lot to improve. We're probably not as good as we thought we were entering this series.

"So it's a necessary lesson for us, and we have plenty to improve on."

The Kangaroos 'Show Up and Prove Ruthless'

Having been heavily outplayed in an mistake-ridden performance at the national stadium, England's were significantly better on Saturday back in the core regions of the North.

During an energetic first half, the home side caused turnovers from the Australians and had all the field position and possession, but crucially did not convert opportunities on the points tally.

Notably, England have now scored just a single touchdown over the series so far, with St Helens hooker the forward barging over late on in the loss in London.

In contrast, Australia have racked up half a dozen so far - and when mistakes began to affect the hosts' play just after the break, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be heavily penalized.

First Cameron Munster went over, and then so too did the forward. 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 competitive," said Wane.

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

"The team is heartbroken. So proud the squad had a dig but so disappointed with that after half-time, which cost us dearly."

Although the next World Cup in Oceania is just under 12 months away, England's short-term goal will be on trying to salvage honor, avoiding a clean sweep and eradicating the mistakes that frustrated Wane.

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

"We managed this week. The issue is a lack of precision in our attack where we could have put them under greater stress. It's essential to defend both [tries] with greater resolve.

"Credit to Australia - that is not a criticism to them. They arrive and are ruthless when they get a chance, and we failed to be, but in defense we must do improve.

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

Intensity Needs to Improve in Domestic Competition

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

Yet Wane argues that the quality of the NRL - and standard of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and Queensland - deliver a superior grounding for competing at the highest level of the global stage than what is on offer in the northern hemisphere.

Wane commented that the packed domestic league fixture list left little opportunity for him to train his squad 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 2026.

"They play a large number of internationals in their competition," Wane stated.

"England have ten to fifteen a year. We need highly competitive games to improve the competition and increase our prospects of succeeding in these types of matches.

"It was impossible to even practice with the squad. There was no chance to trained together in the season and despite having the full backing of all clubs in Super League.

"I understand in the position of the head coaches that must to win games. The competition is that tight. It's a pity but it's not the reason we got beaten today."