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According to skipper the England captain, the national team were delivered a harsh "reality check" as the Kangaroos won the Rugby League Ashes.

The Kangaroos' decisive 14-4 win at the stadium in Liverpool on Saturday gave them a unassailable 2-0 advantage, making the upcoming Headingley encounter a dead rubber.

The England team had entered the series holding aspirations of inflicting the Kangaroos to their maiden Ashes setback since the 1970s.

In the past two years, they had achieved a clean sweep over the Tongan side and a success over Samoa. But as the prestigious competition returned after a two-decade hiatus, the English were failed to make the leap against the reigning title holders.

"We're not making excuses. There were enough training periods to get it right on the pitch, and I don't think we've achieved that," the captain commented.

"Credit to Australia. They proved strong defensively. But we've got plenty to work on. We're probably not as good as we thought we were entering this series.

"This serves as a valuable reality check for us, and we have plenty to develop."

The Kangaroos 'Turn Up and Prove Merciless'

Having been comprehensively defeated in an error-strewn display at the national stadium, England's were markedly enhanced on Saturday back in the core regions of England's north.

In an inspiring opening period, the home side forced mistakes from the Australians and had all the field position and ball control, but crucially did not convert opportunities on the scoreboard.

Significantly, the English team have now scored just one score over 160 minutes, with St Helens hooker Daryl Clark powering through late on in the loss in London.

Conversely, Australia have racked up half a dozen across the series - and when mistakes began to affect the hosts' play just after the half-time, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be severely punished.

Initially Cameron Munster crossed, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being level at 4-4, England were trailing by 10.

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

"The lapse for a brief period after the break cost us greatly. The first try was soft and should never happen in a top-level game.

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

Although the upcoming global tournament in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under 12 months away, the team's immediate focus will be on trying to salvage honor, preventing a 3-0 sweep and addressing the mistakes that annoyed Wane.

"I hoped to see greater effort directed toward the opposition. My aim was us to maintain momentum in the game - we fell short last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We managed this week. It's just a lack of precision in our offense where we could have applied under increased strain. We need to stop each of [tries] more effectively.

"Credit to Australia - that is no slight to them. They perform and are ruthless when they get a chance, and we weren't, but in defense we must do enhance.

"They will be obsessed to win all three Tests and we need to be just as focused to make it a competitive series. I've said that to the squad. This must become our obsession. It's going to be a difficult week but the side that wants it the most will emerge victorious next week."

Intensity Needs to Increase in Domestic Competition

The English side have played a similar number of international fixtures to Australia since the last World Cup in 2022.

Yet the coach thinks that the quality of the Australian league - and level of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and Queensland - deliver a superior foundation 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 Super League fixture list allowed no time for him to train his players during the season, which will only pose additional concerns around how the national team can bridge the gap to Australia before travelling to the Southern Hemisphere in the next World Cup.

"The Australians play a lot of Test matches in their competition," he added.

"We have ten to fifteen a year. It's crucial highly competitive games to enhance the domestic league and improve our prospects of succeeding in these sorts of games.

"It was impossible to even train with the players. There was no chance to trained together in the campaign and despite having the complete support of everyone in the domestic competition.

"I understand in the boots of the head coaches that must to win games. The competition is that tight. It's unfortunate but it's not the cause we were defeated today."