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As stated by captain George Williams, the national team were handed a stark "sobering lesson" as Australia clinched the prestigious series.

The Kangaroos' 14-4 triumph at the Merseyside venue on the weekend gave them a commanding series edge, making next week's sold-out third Test a meaningless fixture.

Shaun Wane's side had entered the series dreaming of inflicting Australia to their maiden Ashes setback since 1970.

Recently, they had secured a 3-0 series win over the Tongan side and a 2-0 triumph over the Samoan team. But as the prestigious competition returned after a two-decade hiatus, the English were unable to advance further against the top-ranked team.

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

"Credit to Australia. They were good defensively. But there's loads to work on. It seems not as prepared as we thought we were entering this series.

"So it's a valuable lesson for us, and we have plenty to improve on."

The Kangaroos 'Turn Up and Prove Ruthless'

Having been heavily outplayed in an mistake-ridden performance at the national stadium, England's were much improved on Saturday back in the core regions of England's north.

In an inspiring first half, England caused turnovers from the Australians and had all the field position and ball control, but crucially did not make it count on the points tally.

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

In contrast, the Kangaroos have scored six so far - and when mistakes began to affect the England's play just after the break, it was a case of certainty, they were going to be made to pay.

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

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

"The lapse for a brief period after half-time damaged us greatly. Munster's try was avoidable and should not be scored in a Test match.

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

Although the next World Cup in the Southern Hemisphere is just under next year, the team's primary concern will be on attempting to restore some pride, preventing a clean sweep and eliminating the issues that irritated the coach.

"I hoped to see greater effort thrown at Australia. My aim was us to maintain momentum in the game - we didn't do that last week," added the veteran coach.

"We managed this week. The issue is a bit of detail in our offensive play where we could have applied under greater stress. It's essential to stop each of [tries] better.

"Credit to Australia - that is no detriment to them. They arrive and are ruthless when they seize opportunities, and we weren't, but defensively we must do enhance.

"They will be focused to win all three Tests and we need to be equally determined to make it 2-1. I've told that to the squad. It has to be our main aim. It will be a challenging week but the side that desires it the most will secure victory next week."

Intensity Must to Increase in Super League

England have played a similar number of Test matches to the Kangaroos since the previous global tournament in recent years.

However the coach believes that the strength of the NRL - and quality of the domestic rivalry matches between NSW and Queensland - provide a superior foundation for competing at the highest level of the international game than what is available in the UK.

The England coach commented that the congested domestic league fixture list allowed little opportunity for him to train his players during the season, which will only raise further questions around how the national team can narrow the difference to Australia before heading to the Southern Hemisphere in 2026.

"The Australians play a large number of Test matches in their competition," he stated.

"England have ten to fifteen a year. It's crucial really intense games to improve the domestic league and improve our chances of succeeding in these types of matches.

"I couldn't even practice with the players. We never trained together in the campaign and despite having the full backing of everyone in the domestic competition.

"I have also been in the shoes of the club managers that need to win games. The league is that congested. It's unfortunate but it's not the cause we got beaten today."