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According to skipper the England captain, England were delivered a brutal "reality check" as the Kangaroos won the coveted Ashes trophy.

Australia's 14-4 triumph at the stadium in Liverpool on the weekend gave them a 2-0 series lead, making the upcoming Headingley encounter a academic contest.

Shaun Wane's side had entered the series holding aspirations of sending Australia to their initial series loss since 1970.

Over the last 24 months, they had secured a dominant victory over the Tongan side and a 2-0 triumph over the Samoan team. But as the historic rivalry resumed after a 22-year absence, the English were failed to take the next step against the reigning title holders.

"We're not making excuses. We've had enough training periods to execute properly on the field, and it's clear we've achieved that," the captain commented.

"Australia deserve praise. They proved good defensively. But there's plenty to work on. It seems not as good as we believed we were entering this series.

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

Australia 'Show Up and Are Merciless'

Having been soundly beaten in an mistake-ridden performance at the national stadium, Wane side's were significantly better on Saturday back in the traditional strongholds of the North.

During an energetic initial stages, England caused turnovers from the Kangaroos and had superior positioning and possession, but crucially did not make it count on the scoreboard.

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

On the other hand, Australia have scored half a dozen in two games - 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 heavily penalized.

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

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

"The switch off for a brief period after half-time damaged us severely. The first try was soft and should never happen in a Test match.

"We're deeply disappointed. So proud the squad had a dig but very frustrated with that post-interval, which hurt us dearly."

Although the upcoming global tournament in the Southern Hemisphere is just under a year from now, the team's primary concern will be on attempting to salvage honor, preventing a series whitewash and eradicating the mistakes that frustrated the coach.

"I wanted to see greater effort thrown at the opposition. I wanted us to build pressure 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 increased strain. We need to stop each of [tries] better.

"Credit to the Kangaroos - that is no slight to them. They arrive and are ruthless when they capitalize, and we weren't, but in defense we can and should do enhance.

"They will be determined to win 3-0 and we need to be obsessed to make it a competitive series. I've said that to the players. This must become our main aim. It will be a tough week but the side that desires it the most will secure victory next week."

Intensity Must to Improve in Domestic Competition

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

Yet the coach thinks that the quality of the NRL - and level of the State of Origin matches between NSW and Queensland - provide a much better grounding for performing at the top of the international game than what is on offer in the northern hemisphere.

The England coach commented that the hectic domestic league fixture schedule left no time for him to coach his squad during the campaign, which will only raise further questions around how England can bridge the gap to Australia before travelling to Oceania in 2026.

"The Australians participate in a large number of internationals in their league," Wane added.

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

"I couldn't even practice with the squad. We never trained together in the campaign and despite having the full backing of everyone in Super League.

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