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In the words of skipper George Williams, England were handed a harsh "reality check" as the Kangaroos clinched the coveted Ashes trophy.

Australia's 14-4 victory at the stadium in Liverpool on Saturday gave them a unassailable 2-0 advantage, making next week's sold-out third Test a dead rubber.

Shaun Wane's side had come into the series holding aspirations of sending the Kangaroos to their maiden Ashes setback since the 1970s.

Over the last 24 months, they had secured a 3-0 series win over the Tongan side and a series win over Samoa. But as the Rugby League Ashes returned after a 22-year absence, the English were unable to advance further against the top-ranked team.

"We're not making excuses. We've had enough training periods to get it right on the pitch, and it's clear we've quite done that," Williams stated.

"Credit to Australia. They were excellent defensively. But there's plenty to work on. It seems not as prepared as we thought we were going into this series.

"This serves as a necessary wake-up call for us, and we have plenty to enhance."

The Kangaroos 'Arrive and Prove Clinical'

Having been comprehensively defeated in an sloppy showing at Wembley, Wane side's were much improved on Saturday back in the core regions of the North.

In a rousing initial stages, the home side elicited errors from the Kangaroos and had all the field position and possession, but unfortunately did not capitalize on the points tally.

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

In contrast, Australia have accumulated half a dozen so far - and when mistakes began to appear in the hosts' play just after the break, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be heavily penalized.

First Cameron Munster went over, and then so too did the forward. From being level at four-all, the home side were down by double digits.

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

"The lapse for 10 minutes after half-time damaged us greatly. The first try was avoidable and should not be scored in a international fixture.

"We're heartbroken. Extremely pleased the squad had a dig but very frustrated with that post-interval, which hurt us heavily."

While the next World Cup in Oceania is just under 12 months away, the team's immediate focus will be on trying to salvage honor, preventing a 3-0 sweep and eliminating the mistakes that frustrated the coach.

"I wanted to see greater effort thrown at Australia. My aim was us to apply sustained attack in the game - we fell short last week," added the veteran coach.

"We managed this week. It's just a lack of precision in our offense where we could have put them under increased strain. We need to stop each of [tries] more effectively.

"Fair play to Australia - that is no slight to them. They turn up and are clinical when they get a chance, and we failed to be, but defensively we must do improve.

"The Australians will be obsessed to win the series whitewash and we need to be obsessed to make it 2-1. I've said that to the squad. It has to be our main aim. It's going to be a challenging week but the side that strives for it the greatest will secure victory next week."

Competitive Edge Needs to Elevate in Domestic Competition

The English side have played a similar number of Test matches to Australia since the last World Cup in 2022.

However Wane argues that the quality of the Australian league - and level of the State of Origin matches between NSW and Queensland - offer a more effective preparation for performing at the top of the international game than what is available in the UK.

Wane added that the hectic Super League fixture schedule left little opportunity for him to work with his team during the season, which will only raise further questions around how England can bridge the gap to Australia before travelling to the Southern Hemisphere in the next World Cup.

"They play a lot of internationals in their competition," Wane stated.

"We play ten to fifteen a year. We need highly competitive games to enhance the domestic league and boost our prospects of winning these high-stakes fixtures.

"It was impossible to even train with the players. There was no chance to got on the field in the campaign and despite having the total cooperation 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 got beaten today."