England's Ashes Dreams Finish with Stark 'Sobering Lesson'

In the words of skipper George Williams, England were given a harsh "reality check" as Australia won the prestigious series.

Australia's 14-4 triumph at the stadium in Liverpool on the weekend gave them a unassailable 2-0 advantage, making the upcoming Headingley encounter a academic contest.

Shaun Wane's side had come into the series harbouring hopes of sending Australia to their maiden Ashes setback since over five decades ago.

Over the last 24 months, they had enjoyed a clean sweep over the Tongan side and a series win over the Samoan team. But as the Rugby League Ashes resumed after a 22-year absence, the English were failed to take the next step against the world champions.

"We're not making excuses. We've had enough preparations to get it right on the field, and it's clear we've achieved that," the captain told.

"Australia deserve praise. They proved excellent in defense. But there's plenty to work on. It seems not as prepared as we thought we were entering this series.

"So it's a good reality check for us, and we have plenty to develop."

The Kangaroos 'Show Up and Are Merciless'

Having been heavily outplayed in an sloppy showing at Wembley, England's were much improved on Saturday back in the rugby league heartlands of northern England.

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

Notably, the English team have now managed just one try over the series so far, with St Helens hooker the forward powering through late on in the loss in London.

In contrast, Australia have accumulated six so far - and when blunders began to creep into the hosts' play just after the interval, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be heavily penalized.

First the playmaker crossed, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being level at 4-4, England were trailing by 10.

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

"The drop in intensity for 10 minutes after half-time damaged us greatly. The first try was avoidable and should not be scored in a Test match.

"The team is devastated. Extremely pleased the players had a dig but so disappointed with that post-interval, which proved costly heavily."

While the next World Cup in the Southern Hemisphere is just under 12 months away, England's short-term goal will be on trying to regain respect, preventing a 3-0 sweep and eliminating the mistakes that annoyed Wane.

"I wanted to see greater effort thrown at Australia. My aim was us to apply sustained attack in the game - we didn't do that last week," added the veteran coach.

"We did this week. The issue is a bit of detail in our offensive play where we could have applied under increased strain. It's essential to stop each of [tries] with greater resolve.

"Fair play to the Kangaroos - that is no slight to them. They turn up and are ruthless when they get a chance, and we failed to be, but in defense we must do enhance.

"They will be obsessed to win the series whitewash and we need to be obsessed to make it 2-1. I've told that to the squad. It has to be our primary goal. It will be a tough week but the side that wants it the most will get the win next week."

Competitive Edge Needs to Elevate in Domestic Competition

The English side have played a comparable number of international fixtures to Australia since the last World Cup in recent years.

Yet the coach believes that the quality of the NRL - and level of the State of Origin matches between NSW and QLD - provide a much better foundation for performing at the highest level of the global stage than what is on offer in the northern hemisphere.

The England coach noted that the hectic Super League calendar left no time for him to train his squad during the campaign, which will only pose further questions around how England can close the divide to Australia before travelling to the Southern Hemisphere in the next World Cup.

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

"England play 10-15 a year. We need really intense games to boost the domestic league and improve our chances of winning these sorts of games.

"It was impossible to even train with the players. We never trained together in the campaign and I had the full backing of all clubs in the domestic competition.

"I have also been in the shoes of the club managers that must to win games. The league is that tight. It's unfortunate but that's not the cause we were defeated today."