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In the words of skipper George Williams, the national team were handed a stark "sobering lesson" as the Kangaroos secured the prestigious series.

Australia's decisive 14-4 win at the stadium in Liverpool on the weekend gave them a unassailable 2-0 advantage, making the upcoming final match in Leeds a meaningless fixture.

Shaun Wane's side had entered the series dreaming of sending the Kangaroos to their maiden Ashes setback since the 1970s.

In the past two years, they had enjoyed a dominant victory over Tonga and a success over Samoa. But as the Rugby League Ashes returned after a two-decade hiatus, the English were unable to take the next step against the top-ranked team.

"We take full responsibility. There were enough preparations to perform correctly on the field, and it's clear we've managed that," Williams stated.

"Credit to Australia. They proved excellent in defense. But there's plenty to improve. We're probably not as strong as we expected we were entering this series.

"So it's a good reality check for us, and there is much to enhance."

Australia 'Show Up and Prove Clinical'

Having been heavily outplayed in an mistake-ridden performance at Wembley, Wane side's were markedly enhanced on the weekend back in the traditional strongholds of northern England.

During an energetic first half, the home side forced mistakes from the Kangaroos and had all the field position and possession, but crucially did not capitalize on the scoreboard.

Tellingly, the English team have now managed just one score over the series so far, with St Helens hooker the forward scoring late on in the setback in London.

On the other hand, Australia have accumulated six so far - and when blunders began to appear in the hosts' play just after the half-time, it was a case of certainty, they were going to be severely punished.

Initially Cameron Munster crossed, and then so too did the forward. From being tied at 4-4, the home side were down by double digits.

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

"The lapse for a brief period after half-time damaged us greatly. Munster's try was easy and should never happen in a international fixture.

"We're devastated. So proud the squad had a go but so disappointed with that second-half lapse, which proved costly dearly."

Although the next World Cup in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under 12 months away, England's primary concern will be on trying to salvage honor, preventing a 3-0 sweep and addressing the issues that annoyed the coach.

"I hoped to see more directed toward the opposition. I wanted us to apply sustained attack in the game - we failed to deliver last week," added the veteran coach.

"We managed this week. The issue is a bit of detail in our offense where we could have put them under more pressure. We need to defend both [tries] with greater resolve.

"Credit to the Kangaroos - that is no detriment to them. They arrive and are ruthless when they get a chance, and we failed to be, but defensively we can and should do better.

"They will be focused to win 3-0 and we need to be obsessed to make it 2-1. I've told that to the players. It has to be our primary goal. It will be a challenging week but whoever strives for it the greatest will emerge victorious next week."

Intensity Must to Increase in Super League

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

However Wane thinks that the quality of the NRL - and quality of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and Queensland - deliver a more effective grounding for performing at the highest level of the global stage than what is available in the UK.

The England coach added that the hectic domestic league calendar left no time for him to work with his players during the campaign, which will only pose additional concerns around how England can narrow the difference to Australia before heading to the Southern Hemisphere in the next World Cup.

"They participate in a lot of internationals in their league," Wane remarked.

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

"It was impossible to even practice with the players. There was no chance to got on the field in the campaign and I had the complete support of all clubs in Super League.

"I understand in the boots of the head coaches that must to win games. The league is that tight. It's unfortunate but that's not the cause we got beaten today."