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As stated by leader the England captain, England were handed a harsh "wake-up call" as Australia secured the Rugby League Ashes.

Australia's 14-4 victory at the Merseyside venue on the weekend gave them a unassailable 2-0 advantage, making the upcoming final match in Leeds a dead rubber.

Shaun Wane's side had come into the series harbouring hopes of inflicting Australia to their initial series loss since 1970.

Recently, they had secured a clean sweep over the Tongan side and a success over Samoa. But as the Rugby League Ashes resumed after a two-decade hiatus, the English were unable to make the leap against the top-ranked team.

"We take full responsibility. We've had enough preparations to get it right on the pitch, and it's clear we've quite done that," the captain told.

"Credit to Australia. They proved good in defense. But we've got plenty to work on. It seems not as good as we believed we were entering this series.

"So it's a good lesson for us, and [there is] loads to enhance."

Australia 'Arrive and Are Ruthless'

After being heavily outplayed in an mistake-ridden performance at the national stadium, Wane side's were markedly enhanced on Saturday back in the core regions of the North.

In an inspiring first half, England caused turnovers from the Kangaroos and had dominant territory and possession, but importantly did not convert opportunities on the points tally.

Notably, the English team have now managed just a single touchdown over 160 minutes, with player the forward barging over late on in the defeat in London.

On the other hand, Australia have racked up six across the series - and when blunders began to creep into the hosts' play just after the break, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be made to pay.

Initially the playmaker crossed, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being level at four-all, England were 10 points adrift.

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

"The lapse for a brief period after the break damaged us immensely. Munster's try was avoidable and should not be scored in a top-level game.

"We're devastated. So proud the squad had a go but very frustrated with that after half-time, which cost us heavily."

While the upcoming global tournament in Oceania is just under a year from now, England's short-term goal will be on attempting to salvage honor, avoiding a clean sweep and eradicating the issues that irritated the coach.

"I wanted to see greater effort directed toward Australia. I wanted us to maintain momentum in the game - we fell short last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We did this week. The issue is a bit of detail in our offense where we could have put them under more pressure. It's essential to defend both [tries] better.

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

"They will be focused to win all three Tests and we need to be just as focused to make it a respectable scoreline. I've told that to the squad. This must become our obsession. It's going to be a difficult week but whoever desires it the most will secure victory next week."

Competitive Edge Must to Elevate in Super League

England have played a comparable number of international fixtures to Australia since the previous global tournament in recent years.

Yet Wane thinks that the quality of the Australian league - and level of the State of Origin matches between NSW and Queensland - offer a superior preparation for competing at the highest level of the international game than what is available in the UK.

The England coach added that the packed Super League calendar left no time for him to coach his players during the season, which will only pose additional concerns around how the national team can bridge the gap to the Kangaroos before heading to Oceania in 2026.

"The Australians play a large number of Test matches in their competition," Wane added.

"England have 10-15 a year. It's crucial demanding games to enhance the domestic league and increase our chances of winning these sorts of games.

"I couldn't even practice with the players. We never got on the field in the campaign and despite having the total cooperation of everyone in the domestic competition.

"I understand in the shoes of the club managers that need to win games. The league is that tight. It's unfortunate but it's not the cause we lost today."