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According to skipper the England captain, the national team were handed a brutal "wake-up call" as Australia won the coveted Ashes trophy.

Australia's 14-4 victory at the stadium in Liverpool on the weekend gave them a 2-0 series lead, making the upcoming final match in Leeds a meaningless fixture.

Shaun Wane's side had entered the series harbouring hopes of sending Australia to their first Ashes series defeat since the 1970s.

Over the last 24 months, they had enjoyed a clean sweep over Tonga and a 2-0 triumph over the Samoan team. But as the historic rivalry resumed after a long break, the English were unable to take the next step against the reigning title holders.

"No excuses from us. We've had enough preparations to perform correctly on the pitch, and I don't think we've managed that," the captain commented.

"Australia deserve praise. They were excellent defensively. But there's a lot to work on. It seems not as prepared as we believed we were going into this series.

"So it's a valuable reality check for us, and we have plenty to enhance."

Australia 'Arrive and Prove Merciless'

Having been comprehensively defeated in an error-strewn display at the national stadium, England's were markedly enhanced on the weekend back in the rugby league heartlands of northern England.

During an energetic opening period, the home side caused turnovers from the Kangaroos and had dominant territory and ball control, but crucially did not convert opportunities on the scoreboard.

Tellingly, the English team have now scored just a single touchdown over the series so far, with St Helens hooker Daryl Clark barging over late on in the setback in London.

Conversely, the Kangaroos have accumulated six across the series - and when blunders began to creep into the England's play just after the interval, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be made to pay.

Initially Cameron Munster scored, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being tied at 4-4, England were down by double digits.

"Satisfied for the majority of the game. In my view for 70 minutes we were solid," said Wane.

"The switch off for 10 minutes after the break damaged us greatly. The first try was soft and should never happen in a Test match.

"We're heartbroken. Extremely pleased the players had a go but very frustrated with that after half-time, which proved costly dearly."

Although the upcoming global tournament in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under 12 months away, England's primary concern will be on trying to regain respect, avoiding a 3-0 sweep and eradicating the mistakes that annoyed Wane.

"I wanted to see greater effort thrown at Australia. My aim was us to apply sustained attack in the game - we failed to deliver last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We did this week. It's just a minor refinements in our attack where we could have put them under increased strain. It's essential to stop each of [tries] with greater resolve.

"Fair play to the Kangaroos - that is no slight to them. They turn up and are clinical when they get a chance, and we weren't, but in defense we can and should do enhance.

"The Australians will be determined to win 3-0 and we need to be just as focused 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 whoever strives for it the most will secure victory next week."

Competitive Edge Must to Elevate in Super League

England have participated in a similar number of Test matches to the Kangaroos since the previous global tournament in 2022.

However the coach thinks that the strength of the Australian league - and standard of the domestic rivalry matches between NSW and QLD - provide a superior grounding for competing at the top of the global stage than what is available in the northern hemisphere.

The England coach added that the packed domestic league fixture list left little opportunity for him to train his squad during the campaign, which will only raise further questions around how the national team can bridge the gap to Australia before heading to Oceania in 2026.

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

"We play 10-15 a year. It's crucial highly competitive games to boost the domestic league and improve our prospects of winning these high-stakes fixtures.

"It was impossible to even practice with the squad. There was no chance to got on the field in the campaign and I had the total cooperation of everyone in the domestic competition.

"I understand in the shoes of the head coaches that must to win games. The competition is that packed. It's unfortunate but that's not the reason we got beaten today."