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In the words of captain George Williams, England were delivered a stark "sobering lesson" as the Kangaroos secured the Rugby League Ashes.

Australia's 14-4 victory at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday gave them a commanding series edge, making the upcoming sold-out third Test a meaningless fixture.

The England team had entered the series dreaming of inflicting the Kangaroos to their initial series loss since 1970.

Over the last 24 months, they had enjoyed a 3-0 series win over the Tongan side and a series win over Samoa. But as the prestigious competition returned after a two-decade hiatus, England were failed to advance further against the top-ranked team.

"We're not making excuses. There were enough training periods to execute properly on the pitch, and I don't think we've managed that," the captain stated.

"Credit to Australia. They proved excellent defensively. 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 lesson for us, and we have plenty to improve on."

The Kangaroos 'Arrive and Prove Clinical'

After being soundly beaten in an error-strewn display at Wembley, England's were much improved on Saturday back in the rugby league heartlands of northern England.

During an energetic opening period, England forced mistakes from the Australians and had superior positioning and possession, but importantly did not make it count on the points tally.

Tellingly, England have now managed just a single touchdown over 160 minutes, with player Daryl Clark powering through late on in the loss in London.

Conversely, Australia have accumulated half a dozen so far - and when blunders began to appear in the England's play just after the half-time, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be severely punished.

Initially the playmaker scored, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being level at 4-4, the home side were down by double digits.

"Proud for the majority of the game. I thought for 70 minutes we were good," 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 international fixture.

"The team is deeply disappointed. So proud the players had a dig but so disappointed with that post-interval, which proved costly heavily."

While 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 trying to restore some pride, preventing a clean sweep and eradicating the issues that irritated Wane.

"I hoped to see more thrown at the opposition. I wanted us to apply sustained attack in the game - we failed to deliver last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We managed this week. It's just a minor refinements in our attack where we could have applied under greater stress. It's essential to stop each of [tries] better.

"Fair play to Australia - that is not a criticism to them. They arrive and are ruthless when they capitalize, and we weren't, but in defense we must do better.

"The Australians will be determined to win all three Tests and we need to be just as focused to make it 2-1. I've told that to the squad. This must become our primary goal. It's going to be a challenging week but the side that wants it the most will emerge victorious next week."

Competitive Edge Must to Increase in Super League

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

However Wane believes that the strength of the Australian league - and quality of the State of Origin matches between NSW and QLD - deliver a much better foundation for performing at the top of the international game than what is available in the northern hemisphere.

The England coach added that the hectic Super League fixture schedule left little opportunity for him to coach his players during the season, which will only pose further questions around how England can bridge the gap to Australia before heading to Oceania in 2026.

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

"We have ten to fifteen a year. It's crucial highly competitive games to enhance the domestic league and boost our prospects of winning these types of matches.

"I couldn't even practice with the squad. There was no chance to trained together in the campaign and I had the total cooperation of all clubs in Super League.

"I understand in the boots of the head coaches that need to win games. The league is that congested. It's unfortunate but that's not the reason we were defeated today."