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As stated by captain the England captain, England were given a stark "reality check" as the Kangaroos secured the coveted Ashes trophy.

Australia's 14-4 victory at the stadium in Liverpool on Saturday gave them a commanding series edge, making next week's final match in Leeds a dead rubber.

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

Recently, they had enjoyed a clean sweep over Tonga and a success over Samoa. But as the Rugby League Ashes resumed after a long break, the English were failed to make the leap against the world champions.

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

"Full marks to the Kangaroos. They proved good defensively. But there's loads to address. We're probably not as strong as we expected we were going into this series.

"This serves as a necessary reality check for us, and there is much to develop."

The Kangaroos 'Arrive and Prove Clinical'

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

In an inspiring opening period, the home side elicited errors from the Australians and had all the field position and possession, but unfortunately did not convert opportunities on the points tally.

Significantly, the English team have now managed just one score over two full matches, with St Helens hooker Daryl Clark barging over late on in the setback in the capital.

Conversely, the Kangaroos have racked up half a dozen so far - and when errors began to affect the hosts' play just after the interval, 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 Hudson Young. From being level at four-all, the home side were down by double digits.

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

"The switch off for a brief period after the break damaged us greatly. The first try was avoidable and should not be scored in a international fixture.

"The team is devastated. Extremely pleased the squad had a dig but very frustrated with that second-half lapse, which proved costly heavily."

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 trying to restore some pride, avoiding a series whitewash and eradicating the mistakes that frustrated the coach.

"I hoped to see greater effort directed toward the opposition. My aim was us to build pressure in the game - we failed to deliver last week," added the veteran coach.

"We did this week. The issue is a minor refinements in our offensive play where we could have applied under greater stress. It's essential to defend both [tries] with greater resolve.

"Credit to Australia - that is no slight to them. They turn up and are clinical when they seize opportunities, and we failed to be, but in defense we can and should do better.

"They will be obsessed to win the series whitewash and we need to be equally determined to make it a respectable scoreline. I've said that to the players. It has to be our obsession. It will be a challenging week but whoever desires it the most will get the win next week."

Competitive Edge Must to Elevate in Super League

The English side have participated in a similar number of international fixtures to the Kangaroos since the previous global tournament in 2022.

Yet Wane thinks that the strength of the NRL - and quality of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and Queensland - offer a superior preparation for competing at the highest level of the international game than what is on offer in the Europe.

The England coach commented that the hectic domestic league fixture list allowed little opportunity for him to train his team during the season, which will only pose further questions around how England can narrow the difference to the Kangaroos before travelling to the Southern Hemisphere in the next World Cup.

"The Australians play a large number of Test matches in their league," Wane stated.

"We play ten to fifteen a year. It's crucial highly competitive games to boost the competition and increase our chances of winning these sorts of games.

"It was impossible to even train with the players. There was no chance to got on the field in the campaign and I had the complete support 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 a pity but that's not the reason we were defeated today."