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According to skipper George Williams, England were handed a harsh "reality check" as Australia secured the coveted Ashes trophy.

Australia's 14-4 triumph at the Merseyside venue on Saturday gave them a 2-0 series lead, making next week's Headingley encounter a meaningless fixture.

Shaun Wane's side had entered the series dreaming of sending the Kangaroos to their initial series loss since over five decades ago.

In the past two years, they had secured a 3-0 series win over the Tongan side and a success over Samoa. But as the historic rivalry resumed after a 22-year absence, England were failed to take the next step against the world champions.

"We take full responsibility. There were enough preparations to get it right on the pitch, and it's clear we've quite done that," the captain told.

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

"This serves as a good reality check for us, and there is much to improve on."

Australia 'Turn Up and Prove Merciless'

Having been heavily outplayed in an sloppy showing at Wembley, Wane side's were markedly enhanced on Saturday back in the traditional strongholds of England's north.

In a rousing initial stages, England caused turnovers from the Australians and had superior positioning and possession, but importantly did not make it count on the scoreboard.

Significantly, England have now managed just one try over the series so far, with player Daryl Clark barging over late on in the defeat in London.

In contrast, Australia have accumulated half a dozen in two games - and when errors began to affect the England's play just after the break, it was a case of certainty, they were going to be severely punished.

First Cameron Munster scored, and then so too did the forward. From being tied at four-all, the home side were trailing by 10.

"Proud for the majority of the game. I thought for most of the match we were good," said the coach.

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

"We're heartbroken. So proud the squad had a fight but very frustrated with that second-half lapse, which hurt us significantly."

While the upcoming global tournament in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under 12 months away, the team's immediate focus will be on trying to regain respect, preventing a clean sweep and eradicating the issues that frustrated the coach.

"I hoped to see more thrown at Australia. My aim was us to apply sustained attack in the game - we didn't do that last week," added the veteran coach.

"We managed this week. The issue is a lack of precision in our offense where we could have put them under increased strain. We need to defend both [tries] with greater resolve.

"Fair play to the Kangaroos - that is no detriment to them. They arrive and are ruthless when they get a chance, and we weren't, but defensively we must do better.

"They will be determined to win 3-0 and we need to be obsessed to make it 2-1. I've told that to the players. This must become our main aim. It's going to be a tough week but whoever strives for it the most will emerge victorious next week."

Intensity Must to Improve in Super League

England have played a comparable number of international fixtures to the Kangaroos since the last World Cup in 2022.

Yet Wane believes that the strength of the Australian league - and standard of the domestic rivalry matches between NSW and Queensland - deliver a much better grounding for competing at the highest level of the international game than what is on offer in the UK.

Wane added that the hectic domestic league fixture list left no time for him to coach his squad during the season, which will only pose more issues around how England can narrow the difference to the Kangaroos before travelling to Oceania in the next World Cup.

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

"We have 10-15 a year. It's crucial demanding games to boost the domestic league and boost our prospects of succeeding in these sorts of games.

"I couldn't even practice with the players. We never trained together in the campaign and despite having the full backing of everyone in Super League.

"I have also been in the boots of the head coaches that must to win games. The league is that packed. It's a pity but it's not the cause we got beaten today."