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As stated by skipper George Williams, the national team were given a brutal "reality check" as Australia won the Rugby League Ashes.

The Kangaroos' 14-4 victory at the Merseyside venue on the weekend gave them a 2-0 series lead, making next week's final match in Leeds a academic contest.

Shaun Wane's side had come into the series holding aspirations of inflicting the Kangaroos to their first Ashes series defeat since the 1970s.

In the past two years, they had achieved a clean sweep over Tonga and a success over the Samoan team. But as the historic rivalry resumed after a two-decade hiatus, England were failed to advance further against the world champions.

"We take full responsibility. We've had enough sessions to perform correctly on the field, and it's clear we've quite done that," Williams told.

"Credit to Australia. They proved excellent in defense. But we've got loads to address. It seems not as strong as we believed we were going into this series.

"So it's a valuable wake-up call for us, and [there is] loads to develop."

The Kangaroos 'Show Up and Prove Clinical'

Having been heavily outplayed in an sloppy showing at Wembley, Wane side's were significantly better on the weekend back in the rugby league heartlands of the North.

In an inspiring first half, the home side forced mistakes from the Australians and had all the field position and possession, but importantly did not capitalize on the scoreboard.

Notably, England have now scored just one score over two full matches, with player the forward barging over late on in the loss in London.

On the other hand, the Kangaroos have accumulated half a dozen in two games - and when errors began to creep into the England's play just after the break, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be heavily penalized.

First Cameron Munster scored, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being level at four-all, England were 10 points adrift.

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

"The drop in intensity for 10 minutes after the break cost us severely. Munster's try was easy and should not be scored in a Test match.

"We're deeply disappointed. So proud the squad had a fight but very frustrated with that second-half lapse, which cost us dearly."

Although the next World Cup in Oceania is just under next year, the team's primary concern will be on trying to salvage honor, preventing a series whitewash and addressing the mistakes that irritated Wane.

"I wanted to see additional intensity directed toward Australia. I wanted us to build pressure in the game - we failed to deliver last week," added the veteran coach.

"We managed this week. It's just a bit of detail in our attack where we could have applied under more pressure. We need to stop each of [tries] more effectively.

"Credit to Australia - that is not a criticism to them. They turn up and are merciless when they get a chance, and we weren't, but in defense we can and should do better.

"They will be determined to win all three Tests and we need to be equally determined to make it 2-1. I've told that to the players. It has to be our primary goal. It's going to be a difficult week but whoever wants it the most will emerge victorious next week."

Competitive Edge Must to Increase in Super League

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

Yet the coach argues that the caliber of the Australian league - and standard of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and Queensland - offer a more effective foundation for competing at the top of the international game than what is on offer in the northern hemisphere.

The England coach noted that the congested Super League calendar left no time for him to work with his squad during the campaign, which will only raise further questions around how the national team can narrow the difference to the Kangaroos before heading to Oceania in the next World Cup.

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

"England play ten to fifteen a year. It's crucial really intense games to improve the domestic league and increase our chances of succeeding in these high-stakes fixtures.

"I couldn't even practice with the players. We never got on the field in the campaign and I had the total cooperation of everyone in Super League.

"I understand in the shoes of the head coaches that must to win games. The league is that congested. It's unfortunate but that's not the reason we lost today."