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In the words of captain George Williams, the national team were given a harsh "reality check" as Australia won the coveted Ashes trophy.

The Kangaroos' 14-4 victory at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium on the weekend gave them a 2-0 series lead, making next week's sold-out third Test a academic contest.

The national squad had entered the series holding aspirations of sending the Kangaroos to their first Ashes series defeat since 1970.

Over the last 24 months, they had achieved a 3-0 series win over the Tongan side and a success over Samoa. But as the Rugby League Ashes returned after a two-decade hiatus, the English were unable to make the leap against the top-ranked team.

"No excuses from us. There were enough preparations to get it right on the pitch, and it's clear we've achieved that," the captain told.

"Full marks to the Kangaroos. They proved excellent defensively. But we've got loads to address. We're probably not as good as we thought we were going into this series.

"This serves as a necessary reality check for us, and [there is] loads to improve on."

Australia 'Turn Up and Are Ruthless'

After being soundly beaten in an mistake-ridden performance at the national stadium, England's were markedly enhanced on Saturday back in the rugby league heartlands of England's north.

In a rousing opening period, the home side elicited errors from the Kangaroos and had superior positioning and ball control, but importantly did not convert opportunities on the points tally.

Notably, England have now managed just a single touchdown over the series so far, with St Helens hooker the forward barging over late on in the loss in London.

Conversely, Australia have scored six across the series - and when errors began to creep into the hosts' play just after the break, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be severely punished.

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

"Proud for the majority of the game. In my view for most of the match we were good," said the coach.

"The switch off for 10 minutes after the break damaged us severely. The first try was easy and should never happen in a top-level game.

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

While the next World Cup in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under 12 months away, the team's primary concern will be on trying to restore some pride, preventing a series whitewash and eliminating the issues that frustrated the coach.

"I wanted to see greater effort thrown at the opposition. I wanted us to build pressure in the game - we fell short last week," added the veteran coach.

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

"Credit to Australia - that is no detriment to them. They turn up and are merciless when they get a chance, and we failed to be, but in defense we can and should do enhance.

"They will be focused to win the series whitewash and we need to be just as focused to make it a respectable scoreline. I've said that to the players. This must become our primary goal. It's going to be a tough week but the side that desires it the most will get the win next week."

Competitive Edge Must to Increase in Domestic Competition

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

Yet Wane argues that the quality of the NRL - and standard of the State of Origin matches between NSW and Queensland - offer a more effective grounding for competing at the highest level of the international game than what is on offer in the northern hemisphere.

The England coach commented that the packed Super League fixture schedule left no time for him to train his team during the season, which will only pose additional concerns around how the national team can bridge the gap to Australia before heading to Oceania in the next World Cup.

"The Australians participate in a large number of internationals in their league," he stated.

"England have 10-15 a year. It's crucial really intense games to boost the competition and boost our prospects of succeeding in these types of matches.

"I couldn't even train with the players. There was no chance to trained together in the season and despite having the complete support of everyone in Super League.

"I understand in the shoes of the club managers that must to win games. The league is that packed. It's unfortunate but that's not the reason we got beaten today."