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As stated by skipper George Williams, England were delivered a stark "reality check" as Australia secured the Rugby League Ashes.

Australia's 14-4 victory at the Merseyside venue on the weekend gave them a unassailable 2-0 advantage, making the upcoming Headingley encounter a meaningless fixture.

Shaun Wane's side had come into the series holding aspirations of sending the Kangaroos to their maiden Ashes setback since the 1970s.

Over the last 24 months, they had secured a 3-0 series win over Tonga and a series win over Samoa. But as the prestigious competition returned after a 22-year absence, the English were failed to make the leap against the top-ranked team.

"We take full responsibility. There were enough training periods to get it right on the field, and I don't think we've quite done that," Williams told.

"Credit to Australia. They were strong in defense. But there's loads to work on. It seems not as good as we thought we were entering this series.

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

Australia 'Turn Up and Prove Clinical'

Having been soundly beaten in an sloppy showing at the national stadium, England's were markedly enhanced on the weekend back in the rugby league heartlands of England's north.

During an energetic initial stages, England elicited errors from the Australians and had all the field position and ball control, but importantly did not capitalize on the points tally.

Notably, England have now scored just one try over two full matches, with player the forward barging over late on in the defeat in the capital.

On the other hand, the Kangaroos have accumulated six so far - and when mistakes began to creep into the England's play just after the interval, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be made to pay.

Initially Cameron Munster 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 70 minutes we were solid," said Wane.

"The drop in intensity for 10 minutes after the break damaged us severely. The first try was easy and should never happen in a top-level game.

"We're heartbroken. Extremely pleased the squad had a fight but very frustrated with that post-interval, which hurt us heavily."

While the upcoming global tournament in the Southern Hemisphere is just under a year from now, England's primary concern will be on trying to salvage honor, avoiding a clean sweep and addressing the issues that frustrated the coach.

"I wanted to see more thrown at the opposition. My aim was us to maintain momentum in the game - we fell short last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We did this week. It's just a lack of precision in our attack where we could have applied under greater stress. We need to stop each of [tries] better.

"Fair play to the Kangaroos - that is not a criticism to them. They arrive and are merciless when they seize opportunities, and we weren't, but in defense we can and should do enhance.

"They will be focused to win the series whitewash and we need to be equally determined to make it a respectable scoreline. I've said that to the players. This must become our obsession. It will be a difficult week but the side that desires it the greatest will emerge victorious next week."

Intensity Must to Increase in Domestic Competition

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

Yet the coach thinks that the strength of the NRL - and level of the domestic rivalry matches between NSW and Queensland - provide a much better preparation for performing at the top of the international game than what is on offer in the UK.

Wane commented that the congested domestic league fixture list left little opportunity for him to train his team during the campaign, which will only raise further questions around how England can close the divide to the Kangaroos before travelling to Oceania in 2026.

"They play a large number of Test matches in their league," Wane added.

"England have ten to fifteen a year. It's crucial highly competitive games to boost the competition and boost our prospects of winning these sorts of games.

"It was impossible to even train with the squad. There was no chance to trained together in the season and I had the complete support of all clubs in Super League.

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