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As stated by captain George Williams, the national team were delivered a stark "reality check" as Australia secured the prestigious series.

The Kangaroos' decisive 14-4 win at the Merseyside venue on Saturday gave them a 2-0 series lead, making the upcoming sold-out third Test a academic contest.

The national squad had come into the series harbouring hopes of inflicting the Kangaroos to their maiden Ashes setback since 1970.

In the past two years, they had achieved a 3-0 series win over the Tongan side and a 2-0 triumph over the Samoan team. But as the historic rivalry resumed after a long break, the English were unable to advance further against the world champions.

"We're not making excuses. We've had enough training periods to get it right on the pitch, and it's clear we've quite done that," Williams stated.

"Full marks to the Kangaroos. They proved strong in defense. But we've got a lot to work on. It seems not as good as we believed we were entering this series.

"So it's a necessary wake-up call for us, and there is much to enhance."

The Kangaroos 'Turn Up and Prove Merciless'

Having been heavily outplayed in an mistake-ridden performance at the national stadium, Wane side's were significantly better on the weekend back in the core regions of northern England.

During an energetic opening period, England caused turnovers from the Kangaroos and had all the field position and possession, but crucially did not capitalize on the points tally.

Significantly, the English team have now scored just one score over two full matches, with St Helens hooker the forward barging over late on in the defeat in the capital.

In contrast, Australia have racked up six in two games - and when mistakes began to affect the hosts' play just after the interval, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be severely punished.

Initially the playmaker scored, and then so too did the forward. From being tied at four-all, the home side were 10 points adrift.

"Proud for the majority of the game. I thought for most of the match we were competitive," said Wane.

"The drop in intensity for a brief period after half-time damaged us immensely. Munster's try was easy and should never happen in a Test match.

"The team is deeply disappointed. Extremely pleased the squad had a fight but very frustrated with that second-half lapse, which hurt us significantly."

Although the next World Cup in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under a year from now, England's short-term goal will be on attempting to regain respect, preventing a 3-0 sweep and eliminating the errors that frustrated the coach.

"I wanted to see greater effort directed toward the opposition. My aim was us to apply sustained attack 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 more pressure. We need to stop each of [tries] better.

"Credit to Australia - that is not a criticism to them. They perform and are clinical when they seize opportunities, and we failed to be, but defensively we must do better.

"The Australians will be determined to win all three Tests and we need to be equally determined to make it 2-1. I've said that to the squad. This must become our obsession. It's going to be a challenging week but the side that strives for it the greatest will get the win next week."

Competitive Edge Must to Elevate in Domestic Competition

The English side have played a comparable number of international fixtures to the Kangaroos since the previous global tournament in recent years.

However Wane argues that the strength of the Australian league - and standard of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and QLD - offer a much better preparation for performing at the top of the international game than what is on offer in the northern hemisphere.

The England coach added that the hectic domestic league fixture schedule allowed little opportunity for him to coach his squad during the campaign, which will only pose additional concerns around how England can bridge the gap to the Kangaroos before heading to the Southern Hemisphere in the next World Cup.

"They participate in a lot of Test matches in their league," he stated.

"England have ten to fifteen a year. It's crucial highly competitive games to improve the domestic league and increase our chances of winning these sorts of games.

"I couldn't even train with the squad. We never got on the field in the season and despite having the full backing of all clubs in Super League.

"I have also been in the position of the club managers that need to win games. The competition is that tight. It's unfortunate but it's not the cause we got beaten today."