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In the words of captain George Williams, the national team were delivered a brutal "sobering lesson" as Australia won the coveted Ashes trophy.

Australia's 14-4 victory at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday gave them a commanding series edge, making next week's sold-out third Test a academic contest.

The England team had entered the series dreaming of sending Australia to their first Ashes series defeat since 1970.

In the past two years, they had secured a clean sweep over the Tongan side and a success over Samoa. But as the Rugby League Ashes returned after a 22-year absence, England were failed to make the leap against the top-ranked team.

"We take full responsibility. There were enough preparations to get it right on the field, and it's clear we've quite done that," Williams told.

"Full marks to the Kangaroos. They were strong defensively. But there's a lot to work on. It seems not as strong as we expected we were entering this series.

"So it's a necessary lesson for us, and there is much to enhance."

Australia 'Arrive and Prove Ruthless'

Having been heavily outplayed in an error-strewn display at Wembley, England's were markedly enhanced on the weekend back in the core regions of northern England.

During an energetic initial stages, the home side forced mistakes from the Kangaroos and had all the field position and ball control, but importantly did not make it count on the points tally.

Significantly, England have now scored just one score over the series so far, with St Helens hooker the forward scoring late on in the defeat in the capital.

Conversely, the Kangaroos have accumulated six in two games - and when errors began to appear in the hosts' play just after the break, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be made to pay.

Initially Cameron Munster crossed, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being tied at 4-4, the home side were trailing by 10.

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

"The drop in intensity for 10 minutes after the break hurt us immensely. The first try was soft and should not be scored in a Test match.

"We're devastated. Extremely pleased the players had a fight but so disappointed with that after half-time, which cost us dearly."

Although the next World Cup in the Southern Hemisphere is just under next year, England's immediate focus will be on trying to regain respect, preventing a series whitewash and eliminating the errors that annoyed the coach.

"I wanted to see more directed toward the opposition. My aim was us to maintain momentum in the game - we didn't do that last week," added the veteran coach.

"We did this week. The issue is a lack of precision in our attack where we could have put them under increased strain. It's essential to stop each of [tries] better.

"Credit to the Kangaroos - that is no detriment to them. They turn up 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 obsessed to make it a competitive series. I've told that to the squad. This must become our primary goal. It will be a difficult week but the side that desires it the greatest will get the win next week."

Competitive Edge Needs to Improve in Domestic Competition

England have played a similar number of Test matches to Australia since the last World Cup in 2022.

Yet Wane thinks that the strength of the Australian league - and quality of the State of Origin matches between NSW and QLD - deliver a superior foundation for competing at the top of the international game than what is available in the Europe.

Wane noted that the congested Super League fixture schedule allowed no time for him to work with his team during the season, which will only raise additional concerns around how the national team can narrow the difference to Australia before travelling to Oceania in 2026.

"The Australians play a large number of internationals in their competition," Wane remarked.

"We have ten to fifteen a year. We need really intense games to boost the domestic league and boost our prospects of succeeding in these high-stakes fixtures.

"It was impossible to even practice with the squad. We never got on the field in the season and I had the complete support of all clubs in the domestic competition.

"I have also been in the position of the club managers that need to win games. The competition is that congested. It's unfortunate but that's not the reason we lost today."