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In the words of leader George Williams, England were handed a brutal "sobering lesson" as Australia secured the Rugby League Ashes.

Australia's 14-4 victory at the stadium in Liverpool on the weekend gave them a commanding series edge, making next week's final match in Leeds a academic contest.

Shaun Wane's side had entered the series holding aspirations of sending the Kangaroos to their initial series loss since over five decades ago.

In the past two years, they had secured a 3-0 series win over the Tongan side and a 2-0 triumph over the Samoan team. But as the prestigious competition resumed after a long break, England were failed to make the leap against the world champions.

"We're not making excuses. There were enough preparations to execute properly on the field, and it's clear we've managed that," Williams told.

"Credit to Australia. They were good in defense. But we've got loads to work on. It seems not as strong as we thought we were going into this series.

"This serves as a valuable wake-up call for us, and [there is] loads to improve on."

The Kangaroos 'Turn Up and Prove Ruthless'

Having been soundly beaten in an mistake-ridden performance at Wembley, England's were significantly better on the weekend back in the traditional strongholds of England's north.

During an energetic opening period, England elicited errors from the Kangaroos and had superior positioning and possession, but crucially did not capitalize on the points tally.

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

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

Initially Cameron Munster scored, and then so too did the forward. From being level at 4-4, England were trailing by 10.

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

"The drop in intensity for a brief period after the break hurt us immensely. Munster's try was soft and should not be scored in a top-level game.

"The team is deeply disappointed. So proud the players had a dig but very frustrated with that after half-time, which proved costly significantly."

While the next World Cup in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under 12 months away, England's short-term goal will be on trying to regain respect, preventing a 3-0 sweep and eradicating the issues that frustrated the coach.

"I wanted to see more thrown at the opposition. I wanted us to build pressure in the game - we fell short last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We did this week. The issue is a lack of precision in our attack where we could have applied under more pressure. We need to defend both [tries] with greater resolve.

"Credit to the Kangaroos - that is not a criticism to them. They arrive and are merciless when they capitalize, and we weren't, but in defense we can and should do enhance.

"They will be obsessed to win the series whitewash and we need to be just as focused to make it a competitive series. I've told that to the players. This must become our obsession. It will be a difficult week but whoever strives for it the greatest will get the win next week."

Competitive Edge Needs to Increase in Domestic Competition

The English side have participated in a similar number of international fixtures to the Kangaroos since the last World Cup in 2022.

However Wane thinks that the quality of the Australian league - and standard of the domestic rivalry matches between NSW and QLD - provide a superior preparation for competing at the highest level of the global stage than what is on offer in the Europe.

The England coach commented that the packed domestic league calendar left no time for him to coach his squad during the season, which will only raise more issues around how the national team can close the divide to the Kangaroos before travelling to Oceania in 2026.

"They play a lot of internationals in their competition," Wane remarked.

"England have 10-15 a year. We need demanding games to enhance the domestic league and boost our chances of winning these types of matches.

"I couldn't even practice with the squad. We never got on the field in the season and I had the total cooperation of all clubs in the domestic competition.

"I have also been in the boots of the club managers that must to win games. The competition is that packed. It's a pity but that's not the cause we lost today."