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According to leader George Williams, England were handed a stark "reality check" as Australia secured the Rugby League Ashes.

Australia's 14-4 victory at the stadium in Liverpool on Saturday gave them a 2-0 series lead, making the upcoming sold-out third Test a meaningless fixture.

The England team had come into the series dreaming of inflicting Australia to their initial series loss since over five decades ago.

Recently, they had enjoyed a dominant victory over the Tongan side and a series win over the Samoan team. But as the prestigious competition returned after a two-decade hiatus, England were unable to take the next step against the top-ranked team.

"No excuses from us. There were enough training periods to perform correctly on the pitch, and I don't think we've quite done that," Williams told.

"Credit to Australia. They proved excellent in defense. But there's a lot to address. It seems not as prepared as we believed we were entering this series.

"So it's a necessary reality check for us, and [there is] loads to develop."

The Kangaroos 'Turn Up and Are Ruthless'

Having been heavily outplayed in an mistake-ridden performance at the national stadium, England's were much improved on the weekend back in the core regions of England's north.

In a rousing first half, the home side forced mistakes from the Kangaroos and had all the field position and ball control, but importantly did not make it count on the points tally.

Tellingly, the English team have now managed just one try over two full matches, with player the forward barging over late on in the loss in the capital.

Conversely, Australia have accumulated six so far - and when mistakes began to affect the England's play just after the interval, it was a case of certainty, they were going to be heavily penalized.

Initially Cameron Munster went over, and then so too did the forward. From being tied at four-all, England were trailing by 10.

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

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

"The team is devastated. So proud the players had a go but very frustrated with that post-interval, which cost us significantly."

While the upcoming global tournament in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under a year from now, the team's primary concern will be on trying to restore some pride, preventing a clean sweep and addressing the errors that annoyed Wane.

"I wanted to see greater effort thrown at the opposition. I wanted us to build pressure in the game - we failed to deliver last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We managed this week. It's just a lack of precision in our offense where we could have put them under increased strain. It's essential to defend both [tries] better.

"Credit to Australia - that is not a criticism to them. They arrive and are clinical when they capitalize, and we weren't, but defensively 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. It has to be our main aim. It will be a challenging week but the side that wants it the greatest will emerge victorious next week."

Intensity Needs to Elevate in Domestic Competition

England have participated in a similar number of international fixtures to Australia since the last World Cup in recent years.

Yet the coach believes that the strength of the Australian league - and standard of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and Queensland - offer a more effective preparation for performing at the highest level of the international game than what is available in the northern hemisphere.

The England coach noted that the hectic Super League fixture schedule allowed little opportunity for him to coach his team during the season, which will only raise more issues around how England can narrow the difference to the Kangaroos before heading to the Southern Hemisphere in 2026.

"The Australians participate in a large number of internationals in their league," Wane added.

"England have 10-15 a year. We need really intense games to boost the competition and boost our prospects of winning these sorts of games.

"It was impossible to even practice with the squad. There was no chance to trained together in the campaign and I had the full backing of everyone in Super League.

"I have also been in the shoes of the club managers that need to win games. The competition is that packed. It's unfortunate but that's not the cause we were defeated today."