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

The Kangaroos' 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 academic contest.

Shaun Wane's side had come into the series dreaming of sending the Kangaroos to their initial series loss since 1970.

Over the last 24 months, they had achieved a clean sweep over the Tongan side and a 2-0 triumph over the Samoan team. But as the prestigious competition returned after a 22-year absence, England were unable to take the next step against the world champions.

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

"Full marks to the Kangaroos. They were excellent in defense. But there's plenty to improve. It seems not as good as we thought we were entering this series.

"So it's a necessary lesson for us, and [there is] loads to improve on."

The Kangaroos 'Turn Up and Are Merciless'

After being comprehensively defeated in an mistake-ridden performance at Wembley, England's were markedly enhanced on Saturday back in the core regions of England's north.

During an energetic opening period, England forced mistakes from the Australians and had superior positioning and ball control, but importantly did not convert opportunities on the scoreboard.

Tellingly, England have now scored just one score over 160 minutes, with St Helens hooker the forward scoring late on in the setback in the capital.

In contrast, Australia have scored six across the series - and when mistakes began to affect the hosts' play just after the half-time, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be heavily penalized.

First the playmaker went over, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being level at four-all, the home side were trailing by 10.

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

"The switch off for 10 minutes after the break damaged us greatly. Munster's try was easy and should not be scored in a Test match.

"We're deeply disappointed. So proud the players had a fight but so disappointed with that second-half lapse, which proved costly heavily."

Although the next World Cup in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under a year from now, the team's immediate focus will be on attempting to salvage honor, avoiding a clean sweep and eliminating the issues that frustrated the coach.

"I hoped to see more directed toward the opposition. I wanted us to build pressure in the game - we failed to deliver last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We managed this week. It's just a minor refinements in our attack where we could have applied under increased strain. It's essential to defend both [tries] with greater resolve.

"Credit to Australia - that is no detriment to them. They perform and are merciless when they seize opportunities, and we weren't, 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 a competitive series. I've told that to the players. It has to be our primary goal. It's going to be a difficult week but the side that desires it the most will emerge victorious next week."

Competitive Edge Must to Improve in Domestic Competition

The English side have played a comparable number of international fixtures to Australia since the previous global tournament in 2022.

Yet the coach believes that the quality of the NRL - and standard of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and Queensland - provide a more effective preparation for performing at the highest level of the global stage than what is available in the UK.

The England coach commented that the congested domestic league fixture schedule allowed little opportunity for him to work with his players during the season, which will only pose further questions around how the national team can narrow the difference to the Kangaroos before travelling to Oceania in the next World Cup.

"They play a lot of internationals in their league," he stated.

"England have 10-15 a year. It's crucial demanding games to improve the domestic league and boost our chances of succeeding in these types of matches.

"I couldn't even train with the players. We never trained together in the season and I had the total cooperation of everyone in Super League.

"I understand in the boots of the club managers that need to win games. The competition is that tight. It's unfortunate but that's not the cause we were defeated today."