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As stated by leader George Williams, the national team were delivered a harsh "sobering lesson" as Australia won the coveted Ashes trophy.

Australia's 14-4 victory at the stadium in Liverpool on Saturday gave them a unassailable 2-0 advantage, making next week's final match in Leeds a meaningless fixture.

The national squad had come into the series dreaming of inflicting Australia to their initial series loss since the 1970s.

Recently, they had secured a clean sweep over Tonga and a success over Samoa. But as the historic rivalry returned after a 22-year absence, England were unable to take the next step against the world champions.

"We take full responsibility. There were enough sessions to perform correctly on the pitch, and it's clear we've quite done that," the captain commented.

"Credit to Australia. They proved good in defense. But we've got loads to work on. We're probably not as prepared as we believed we were going into this series.

"This serves as a necessary wake-up call for us, and we have plenty to enhance."

The Kangaroos 'Turn Up and Are Merciless'

Having been comprehensively defeated in an error-strewn display at the national stadium, Wane side's were significantly better on Saturday back in the core regions of northern England.

In an inspiring opening period, the home side caused turnovers from the Australians and had dominant territory and possession, but unfortunately did not capitalize on the scoreboard.

Significantly, the English team have now scored just a single touchdown over the series so far, with player Daryl Clark barging over late on in the loss in London.

Conversely, Australia have scored half a dozen so far - and when blunders began to creep into the hosts' play just after the break, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be severely punished.

Initially the playmaker went over, and then so too did the forward. From being tied at four-all, the home side were 10 points adrift.

"Satisfied for the bulk of the game. In my view for 70 minutes we were competitive," said Wane.

"The lapse for a brief period after the break damaged us immensely. Munster's try was soft and should not be scored in a Test match.

"The team is heartbroken. Extremely pleased the squad had a fight but very frustrated with that second-half lapse, which hurt us dearly."

While the next World Cup in Oceania is just under a year from now, the team's immediate focus will be on trying to regain respect, avoiding a 3-0 sweep and addressing the mistakes that irritated Wane.

"I wanted to see greater effort directed toward Australia. My aim was us to maintain momentum in the game - we fell short last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We managed this week. The issue is a minor refinements in our attack where we could have put them under more pressure. We need to defend both [tries] better.

"Credit to Australia - that is not a criticism to them. They arrive and are ruthless when they capitalize, and we weren't, but in defense we must do improve.

"The Australians will be focused to win all three Tests and we need to be just as focused to make it 2-1. I've said that to the players. This must become our obsession. It will be a challenging week but whoever strives for it the greatest will get the win next week."

Intensity Must to Elevate in Domestic Competition

The English side have participated in a similar number of international fixtures to the Kangaroos since the previous global tournament in 2022.

Yet Wane believes that the strength of the Australian league - and level of the domestic rivalry matches between NSW and QLD - offer a much better foundation for competing at the top of the international game than what is on offer in the northern hemisphere.

Wane commented that the packed Super League calendar allowed little opportunity for him to work with his players during the season, which will only pose additional concerns around how the national team can bridge the gap to the Kangaroos before travelling to Oceania in 2026.

"They play a lot of internationals in their competition," he added.

"England have 10-15 a year. We need demanding games to improve the domestic league and increase our chances of winning these high-stakes fixtures.

"I couldn't even train with the squad. We never trained together in the campaign and despite having the full backing of everyone in the domestic competition.

"I have also been in the boots of the head coaches that must to win games. The league is that packed. It's a pity but it's not the reason we lost today."