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According to skipper the England captain, the national team were handed a stark "wake-up call" as Australia secured the Rugby League Ashes.

Australia's 14-4 triumph at the Merseyside venue on the weekend gave them a commanding series edge, making the upcoming sold-out third Test a academic contest.

The England team had entered the series harbouring hopes of inflicting the Kangaroos to their initial series loss since the 1970s.

Recently, they had secured a clean sweep over the Tongan side and a series win over Samoa. But as the historic rivalry returned after a 22-year absence, England were unable to take the next step against the top-ranked team.

"We take full responsibility. We've had enough training periods to perform correctly on the field, and I don't think we've quite done that," Williams stated.

"Full marks to the Kangaroos. They were good defensively. 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 reality check for us, and we have plenty to develop."

Australia 'Arrive and Are Ruthless'

After being soundly beaten in an mistake-ridden performance at the national stadium, Wane side's were significantly better on Saturday back in the rugby league heartlands of England's north.

In an inspiring first half, the home side caused turnovers from the Australians and had dominant territory and possession, but importantly did not capitalize on the points tally.

Significantly, the English team have now scored just one score over 160 minutes, with player the forward barging over late on in the defeat in London.

Conversely, Australia have racked up half a dozen so far - 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 heavily penalized.

Initially the playmaker scored, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being tied at four-all, England were down by double digits.

"Satisfied for the majority of the game. I thought for 70 minutes we were competitive," said Wane.

"The switch off for a brief period after half-time cost us severely. The first try was easy and should not be scored in a Test match.

"The team is devastated. So proud the squad had a go but so disappointed with that post-interval, which hurt us significantly."

While the next World Cup in the Southern Hemisphere is just under a year from now, the team's short-term goal will be on attempting to regain respect, avoiding a 3-0 sweep and addressing the mistakes that irritated the coach.

"I hoped to see more directed toward Australia. My aim was us to build pressure in the game - we fell short last week," added the veteran coach.

"We did this week. It's just a bit of detail in our attack where we could have applied under greater stress. We need to stop each of [tries] better.

"Fair play to Australia - that is not a criticism to them. They perform and are ruthless when they seize opportunities, and we weren't, but in defense we can and should do better.

"They will be obsessed to win 3-0 and we need to be obsessed to make it a respectable scoreline. I've told that to the players. This must become our primary goal. It will be a tough week but the side that strives for it the greatest will emerge victorious next week."

Intensity Must to Improve in Domestic Competition

The English side have played a comparable number of Test matches to Australia since the previous global tournament in recent years.

However Wane believes that the caliber of the NRL - and level of the State of Origin matches between NSW and QLD - deliver a more effective foundation for competing at the highest level of the global stage than what is available in the UK.

The England coach added that the hectic Super League calendar allowed no time for him to coach his players during the campaign, which will only raise further questions around how England can narrow the difference to the Kangaroos before heading to the Southern Hemisphere in 2026.

"They participate in a lot of internationals in their league," Wane added.

"We play ten to fifteen a year. It's crucial demanding games to boost the domestic league and improve our chances of succeeding in these high-stakes fixtures.

"I couldn't even practice with the players. We never got on the field in the season and I had the total cooperation of all clubs in the domestic competition.

"I have also been in the boots of the club managers that must to win games. The league is that tight. It's unfortunate but that's not the cause we were defeated today."