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According to captain George Williams, the national team were delivered a stark "sobering lesson" as Australia won the Rugby League Ashes.

Australia's decisive 14-4 win at the Merseyside venue on the weekend gave them a 2-0 series lead, making next week's sold-out third Test a dead rubber.

The national squad had entered the series dreaming of sending Australia to their maiden Ashes setback since the 1970s.

Recently, they had achieved a 3-0 series win over Tonga and a series win over Samoa. But as the prestigious competition returned after a long break, England were unable to advance further against the top-ranked team.

"No excuses from us. We've had enough sessions to get it right on the field, and it's clear we've managed that," the captain told.

"Australia deserve praise. They were good defensively. But we've got plenty to work on. We're probably not as good as we expected we were going into this series.

"This serves as a good reality check for us, and [there is] loads to develop."

Australia 'Show Up and Prove Merciless'

After being heavily outplayed in an sloppy showing at Wembley, England's were significantly better on the weekend back in the traditional strongholds of the North.

In an inspiring initial stages, England caused turnovers from the Kangaroos and had dominant territory and ball control, but importantly did not make it count on the points tally.

Notably, England have now managed just one try over the series so far, with player the forward powering through late on in the loss in London.

On the other hand, the Kangaroos have racked up six so far - and when mistakes began to creep into the hosts' play just after the half-time, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be severely punished.

First Cameron Munster went over, and then so too did the forward. From being level at 4-4, the home side were down by double digits.

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

"The drop in intensity for a brief period after the break hurt us severely. Munster's try was easy and should not be scored in a international fixture.

"The team is heartbroken. Extremely pleased the players had a fight but so disappointed with that after half-time, which cost us significantly."

Although the next World Cup in the Southern Hemisphere is just under next year, the team's primary concern will be on attempting to salvage honor, avoiding a 3-0 sweep and addressing the mistakes that irritated Wane.

"I hoped to see additional intensity thrown at the opposition. My aim was us to maintain momentum in the game - we fell short last week," added the veteran coach.

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

"Credit to the Kangaroos - that is no slight to them. They perform and are merciless when they seize opportunities, and we failed to be, but defensively we must do better.

"They will be obsessed to win the series whitewash and we need to be equally determined to make it a competitive series. I've told that to the players. This must become our obsession. It will be a difficult week but whoever desires it the greatest will secure victory next week."

Intensity Must to Elevate in Domestic Competition

The English side have participated in a similar number of Test matches to the Kangaroos since the last World Cup in 2022.

However the coach argues that the strength of the Australian league - and standard of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and Queensland - provide a more effective preparation for performing at the highest level of the global stage than what is on offer in the Europe.

Wane commented that the hectic Super League calendar allowed no time for him to coach his players during the campaign, which will only raise more issues around how England can close the divide to the Kangaroos before heading to the Southern Hemisphere in the next World Cup.

"They participate in a large number of internationals in their league," Wane stated.

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

"It was impossible to even train with the squad. We never got on the field in the season and I had the complete support of all clubs in Super League.

"I have also been in the boots of the head coaches that must to win games. The competition is that tight. It's unfortunate but that's not the reason we lost today."