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In the words of leader George Williams, England were given a stark "wake-up call" as Australia won the coveted Ashes trophy.

Australia's decisive 14-4 win 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 harbouring hopes of inflicting Australia to their maiden Ashes setback since the 1970s.

Over the last 24 months, they had secured a clean sweep over Tonga and a success over Samoa. But as the historic rivalry resumed after a long break, the English were failed to advance further against the world champions.

"We're not making excuses. We've had enough training periods to get it right on the pitch, and I don't think we've quite done that," the captain commented.

"Credit to Australia. They proved excellent in defense. But we've got plenty to improve. It seems not as prepared as we thought we were entering this series.

"This serves as a necessary reality check for us, and we have plenty to develop."

The Kangaroos 'Show Up and Are Ruthless'

Having been comprehensively defeated in an error-strewn display at the national stadium, England's were much improved on the weekend back in the traditional strongholds of the North.

In an inspiring opening period, England elicited errors from the Australians and had dominant territory and ball control, but unfortunately did not make it count on the points tally.

Significantly, the English team have now scored just a single touchdown over two full matches, with player the forward powering through late on in the loss in the capital.

Conversely, Australia have scored six in two games - and when blunders began to affect the hosts' play just after the half-time, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be severely punished.

Initially the playmaker went over, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being level at 4-4, the home side were 10 points adrift.

"Proud for the bulk of the game. In my view for most of the match we were competitive," said the coach.

"The lapse for 10 minutes after the break damaged us severely. The first try was avoidable and should never happen in a Test match.

"We're deeply disappointed. Extremely pleased the squad had a go but so disappointed with that post-interval, which proved costly significantly."

Although the next World Cup in Oceania is just under a year from now, England's short-term goal will be on attempting to regain respect, avoiding a 3-0 sweep and addressing the issues that frustrated the coach.

"I hoped to see greater effort directed toward the opposition. I wanted us to maintain momentum in the game - we fell short last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We did this week. It's just a bit of detail in our offensive play where we could have applied under greater stress. It's essential to stop each of [tries] more effectively.

"Fair play to Australia - that is not a criticism to them. They arrive and are ruthless when they capitalize, and we weren't, but defensively we can and should do better.

"They will be focused to win all three Tests and we need to be obsessed to make it a respectable scoreline. I've told that to the players. This must become our main aim. It will be a difficult week but the side that strives for it the most will get the win next week."

Intensity Needs to Elevate in Domestic Competition

England have played a comparable number of international fixtures to Australia since the previous global tournament in recent years.

Yet Wane thinks that the caliber of the NRL - and standard of the State of Origin matches between NSW and QLD - offer a more effective foundation for competing at the top of the global stage than what is on offer in the Europe.

The England coach noted that the congested Super League calendar left little opportunity for him to work with his squad during the campaign, which will only pose more issues around how England can narrow the difference to Australia before heading to Oceania in the next World Cup.

"The Australians participate in a lot of internationals in their competition," he remarked.

"We play 10-15 a year. It's crucial really intense games to improve the domestic league and boost our prospects of winning these sorts of games.

"It was impossible to even practice with the players. There was no chance to trained together in the season and I had the complete support of all clubs in the domestic competition.

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