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According to leader George Williams, the national team were delivered a stark "sobering lesson" as the Kangaroos won the prestigious series.

Australia's decisive 14-4 win at the Merseyside venue on the weekend gave them a commanding series edge, making next week's sold-out third Test a dead rubber.

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

Over the last 24 months, they had enjoyed a dominant victory over the Tongan side and a 2-0 triumph over Samoa. But as the historic rivalry resumed after a 22-year absence, England were unable to take the next step against the top-ranked team.

"We take full responsibility. We've had enough sessions to execute properly on the field, and it's clear we've quite done that," the captain stated.

"Full marks to the Kangaroos. They proved good defensively. But there's loads to improve. We're probably not as prepared as we thought we were entering this series.

"This serves as a good wake-up call for us, and [there is] loads to enhance."

Australia 'Arrive and Prove Clinical'

Having been comprehensively defeated in an mistake-ridden performance at the national stadium, England's were significantly better on the weekend back in the core regions of northern England.

In an inspiring opening period, England forced mistakes from the Kangaroos and had dominant territory and ball control, but importantly did not capitalize on the scoreboard.

Tellingly, the English team have now managed just a single touchdown over the series so far, with St Helens hooker Daryl Clark scoring late on in the setback in London.

Conversely, the Kangaroos have accumulated half a dozen across the series - and when mistakes began to affect the England's play just after the interval, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be severely punished.

First the playmaker went over, and then so too did the forward. From being level at 4-4, the home side were trailing by 10.

"Proud for the majority of the game. I thought for 70 minutes we were competitive," said Wane.

"The lapse for a brief period after the break cost us severely. The first try was avoidable and should not be scored in a top-level game.

"The team is deeply disappointed. So proud the squad had a go but very frustrated with that second-half lapse, which hurt us dearly."

While the next World Cup in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under next year, England's primary concern will be on trying to salvage honor, avoiding a clean sweep and eliminating the issues that annoyed Wane.

"I hoped to see more thrown at Australia. 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. It's just a minor refinements in our attack where we could have put them under greater stress. We need to stop each of [tries] with greater resolve.

"Fair play to Australia - that is no detriment to them. They turn up and are clinical when they seize opportunities, and we weren't, but in defense we must do better.

"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 squad. This must become our obsession. It will be a challenging week but whoever wants it the greatest will emerge victorious next week."

Intensity Needs to Improve in Super League

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

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

Wane added that the hectic domestic league calendar left little opportunity for him to train his players during the campaign, which will only pose additional concerns around how England can narrow the difference to the Kangaroos before heading to the Southern Hemisphere in the next World Cup.

"The Australians participate in a large number of internationals in their competition," Wane stated.

"England play ten to fifteen a year. We need really intense games to improve the domestic league and increase our prospects of winning these types of matches.

"I couldn't even train with the squad. There was no chance to got on the field in the campaign and despite having the total cooperation of all clubs in Super League.

"I understand in the shoes of the head coaches that need to win games. The league is that tight. It's unfortunate but it's not the cause we were defeated today."