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In the words of leader the England captain, England were given a harsh "sobering lesson" as the Kangaroos won the coveted Ashes trophy.

Australia's 14-4 triumph at the stadium in Liverpool on the weekend gave them a unassailable 2-0 advantage, making the upcoming final match in Leeds a dead rubber.

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

Recently, they had secured a clean sweep over Tonga and a success over the Samoan team. But as the Rugby League Ashes resumed after a 22-year absence, the English were failed to take the next step against the reigning title holders.

"We take full responsibility. There were enough training periods to perform correctly on the field, and it's clear we've achieved that," the captain commented.

"Full marks to the Kangaroos. They proved strong in defense. But we've got plenty to work on. We're probably not as prepared as we expected we were entering this series.

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

The Kangaroos 'Turn Up and Are Ruthless'

Having been soundly beaten in an mistake-ridden performance at the national stadium, England's were markedly enhanced on the weekend back in the traditional strongholds of northern England.

During an energetic initial stages, England caused turnovers from the Australians and had superior positioning and possession, but crucially did not convert opportunities on the scoreboard.

Tellingly, England have now managed just a single touchdown over 160 minutes, with player Daryl Clark scoring late on in the loss in London.

On the other hand, the Kangaroos have accumulated half a dozen across the series - and when errors began to affect the hosts' play just after the interval, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be heavily penalized.

First the playmaker crossed, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being level at four-all, the home side were trailing by 10.

"Satisfied for the bulk of the game. I thought for most of the match we were solid," said the coach.

"The lapse for 10 minutes after the break damaged us severely. The first try was soft and should not be scored in a Test match.

"We're deeply disappointed. Extremely pleased the squad had a go but so disappointed with that post-interval, which proved costly dearly."

Although the upcoming global tournament in Oceania is just under next year, the team's primary concern will be on attempting to regain respect, preventing a clean sweep and eradicating the issues that frustrated the coach.

"I wanted to see additional intensity directed toward Australia. I wanted us to build pressure in the game - we fell short last week," added the veteran coach.

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

"Fair play to Australia - that is no detriment to them. They perform and are ruthless when they capitalize, and we weren't, but in defense we must do improve.

"The Australians will be obsessed to win 3-0 and we need to be equally determined to make it 2-1. I've said that to the players. This must become our main aim. It's going to be a difficult week but the side that strives for it the greatest will secure victory next week."

Intensity Must to Improve in Super League

England have played a similar number of Test matches to Australia since the last World Cup in 2022.

However Wane thinks that the strength of the NRL - and level of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and QLD - offer a much better grounding for competing at the highest level of the global stage than what is available in the UK.

Wane noted that the hectic domestic league fixture list allowed little opportunity for him to train his team during the season, which will only pose additional concerns around how the national team can bridge the gap to the Kangaroos before heading to Oceania in 2026.

"They play a lot of Test matches in their league," Wane stated.

"England play ten to fifteen a year. We need highly competitive games to improve the domestic league and improve our chances of succeeding in these high-stakes fixtures.

"I couldn't even practice with the squad. There was no chance to got on the field in the campaign and I had the total cooperation of all clubs in the domestic competition.

"I understand in the shoes of the club managers that must to win games. The league is that congested. It's unfortunate but that's not the cause we lost today."