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As stated by skipper the England captain, England were delivered a brutal "reality check" as the Kangaroos clinched the prestigious series.

Australia's 14-4 triumph at the Merseyside venue on the weekend gave them a 2-0 series lead, making next week's final match in Leeds a dead rubber.

The national squad had entered the series harbouring hopes of inflicting Australia to their first Ashes series defeat since 1970.

Recently, they had enjoyed a dominant victory over Tonga and a success over the Samoan team. But as the Rugby League Ashes resumed after a long break, England were failed to take the next step against the reigning title holders.

"We're not making excuses. We've had enough training periods to perform correctly on the field, and I don't think we've managed that," the captain commented.

"Full marks to the Kangaroos. They were good in defense. But there's loads to work on. We're probably not as strong as we expected we were going into this series.

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

The Kangaroos 'Show Up and Prove Ruthless'

Having been heavily outplayed in an sloppy showing at the national stadium, England's were markedly enhanced on the weekend back in the rugby league heartlands of the North.

During an energetic opening period, the home side caused turnovers from the Australians and had dominant territory and ball control, but importantly did not make it count on the scoreboard.

Tellingly, England have now managed just a single touchdown over the series so far, with St Helens hooker Daryl Clark powering through late on in the loss in the capital.

On the other hand, Australia have accumulated six across the series - and when errors began to appear in the England's play just after the break, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be severely punished.

Initially the playmaker went over, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being tied at 4-4, the home side were down by double digits.

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

"The lapse for a brief period after the break damaged us severely. Munster's try was soft and should never happen in a Test match.

"We're heartbroken. Extremely pleased the players had a dig but so disappointed with that after half-time, which hurt us dearly."

Although the next World Cup in Oceania is just under 12 months away, the team's immediate focus will be on attempting to restore some pride, avoiding a series whitewash and eliminating the issues that irritated Wane.

"I hoped to see more thrown at the opposition. My aim was us to build pressure in the game - we fell short last week," added the 61-year-old.

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

"Credit to the Kangaroos - that is no slight to them. They turn up and are ruthless when they capitalize, and we failed to be, but in defense we must do improve.

"The Australians will be determined to win all three Tests and we need to be obsessed to make it 2-1. I've said that to the players. This must become our primary goal. It will be a challenging week but whoever strives for it the greatest will emerge victorious next week."

Intensity Must to Elevate in Domestic Competition

England have played a comparable number of Test matches to the Kangaroos since the previous global tournament in recent years.

Yet the coach thinks that the strength of the NRL - and level of the domestic rivalry matches between New South Wales and QLD - offer a more effective foundation for competing at the highest level of the global stage than what is on offer in the Europe.

The England coach added that the congested domestic league calendar left no time for him to work with his team during the season, which will only pose more issues around how the national team can bridge the gap to Australia before travelling to the Southern Hemisphere in the next World Cup.

"The Australians play a large number of Test matches in their league," Wane added.

"We have 10-15 a year. It's crucial highly competitive games to enhance the competition and boost our chances of succeeding in these types of matches.

"I couldn't even practice with the squad. There was no chance to trained together in the season and I had the complete support of everyone in the domestic competition.

"I understand in the boots of the club managers that must to win games. The league is that tight. It's a pity but it's not the cause we were defeated today."