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According to captain George Williams, England were delivered a brutal "reality check" as Australia won the Rugby League Ashes.

Australia's 14-4 triumph at the stadium in Liverpool on the weekend 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 holding aspirations of inflicting the Kangaroos to their first Ashes series defeat since 1970.

Over the last 24 months, they had enjoyed a clean sweep over the Tongan side and a 2-0 triumph over Samoa. 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. We've had enough sessions to execute properly on the pitch, and I don't think we've quite done that," the captain told.

"Australia deserve praise. They proved excellent in defense. But there's a lot to improve. It seems not as prepared as we thought we were going into this series.

"This serves as a good lesson for us, and there is much to enhance."

Australia 'Turn Up and Prove Clinical'

After being heavily outplayed in an error-strewn display at Wembley, Wane side's were significantly better on the weekend back in the traditional strongholds of England's north.

During an energetic initial stages, the home side elicited errors from the Kangaroos and had superior positioning and possession, but importantly did not make it count on the points tally.

Significantly, England have now scored just one try over 160 minutes, with St Helens hooker Daryl Clark powering through late on in the defeat in London.

Conversely, Australia have racked up six in two games - and when errors began to affect the hosts' play just after the half-time, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be made to pay.

Initially Cameron Munster crossed, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being level at 4-4, England were trailing by 10.

"Satisfied for the majority of the game. In my view for most of the match we were competitive," said Wane.

"The switch off for 10 minutes after the break cost us greatly. Munster's try was soft and should never happen in a Test match.

"We're deeply disappointed. Extremely pleased the squad had a dig but so disappointed with that second-half lapse, which hurt us dearly."

While the upcoming global tournament in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under next year, the team's short-term goal will be on attempting to salvage honor, avoiding a series whitewash and eliminating the errors that irritated Wane.

"I wanted to see greater effort thrown at Australia. I wanted us to apply sustained attack in the game - we fell short last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We managed this week. The issue is a minor refinements in our offensive play where we could have applied under more pressure. It's essential to stop each of [tries] more effectively.

"Credit to Australia - that is no slight to them. They arrive and are ruthless when they seize opportunities, and we failed to be, but in defense we can and should do enhance.

"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 squad. It has to be our obsession. It's going to be a challenging week but the side that wants it the most will secure victory next week."

Competitive Edge Must to Improve in Super League

The English side have played a comparable number of Test matches to the Kangaroos since the previous global tournament in 2022.

However Wane thinks that the caliber of the Australian league - and level of the domestic rivalry matches between New South Wales and QLD - provide a superior preparation for performing at the top of the global stage than what is available in the northern hemisphere.

Wane commented that the hectic Super League fixture list left no time for him to work with his players during the campaign, which will only raise more issues around how the national team can narrow the difference to the Kangaroos before heading to Oceania in the next World Cup.

"The Australians participate in a large number of Test matches in their league," he remarked.

"England have ten to fifteen a year. We need demanding games to improve the competition and increase our prospects of succeeding in these types of matches.

"I couldn't even train with the squad. There was no chance to trained together in the campaign and I had the total cooperation of all clubs in Super League.

"I understand in the boots of the club managers that must to win games. The competition is that congested. It's unfortunate but it's not the reason we lost today."