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In the words of skipper George Williams, the national team were handed a harsh "wake-up call" as Australia secured the coveted Ashes trophy.

Australia's 14-4 victory at the Merseyside venue on the weekend gave them a commanding series edge, making next week's Headingley encounter a dead rubber.

The national squad had entered the series harbouring hopes of inflicting Australia to their maiden Ashes setback since 1970.

In the past two years, they had secured a dominant victory over the Tongan side and a 2-0 triumph over the Samoan team. But as the historic rivalry resumed after a long break, the English were failed to advance further against the world champions.

"We take full responsibility. We've had enough training periods to execute properly on the pitch, and it's clear we've quite done that," the captain told.

"Full marks to the Kangaroos. They were good in defense. But there's loads to address. It seems not as prepared as we thought we were going into this series.

"This serves as a necessary wake-up call for us, and we have plenty to improve on."

Australia 'Arrive and Are Ruthless'

After being heavily outplayed in an error-strewn display at the national stadium, England's were markedly enhanced on the weekend back in the core regions of England's north.

In an inspiring opening period, the home side forced mistakes from the Australians and had dominant territory and ball control, but importantly did not convert opportunities on the points tally.

Notably, the English team have now managed just a single touchdown over the series so far, with St Helens hooker Daryl Clark scoring late on in the defeat in the capital.

In contrast, Australia have scored six in two games - and when blunders began to affect the England's play just after the half-time, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be heavily penalized.

First Cameron Munster went over, and then so too did the forward. From being level at four-all, England were 10 points adrift.

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

"The switch off for a brief period after half-time hurt us greatly. Munster's try was soft and should never happen in a international fixture.

"The team is devastated. So proud the squad had a dig but so disappointed with that after half-time, which cost us heavily."

Although the upcoming global tournament in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under next year, England's short-term goal will be on attempting to restore some pride, preventing a clean sweep and addressing the issues that annoyed Wane.

"I hoped to see additional intensity thrown at the opposition. My aim was us to maintain momentum in the game - we didn't do that last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We managed this week. It's just a minor refinements in our offense where we could have applied under increased strain. It's essential to defend both [tries] more effectively.

"Credit 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 improve.

"They will be determined to win all three Tests and we need to be just as focused to make it a respectable scoreline. I've told that to the players. It has to be our main aim. It will be a difficult week but whoever wants it the greatest will get the win next week."

Intensity Must to Elevate in Domestic Competition

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

Yet the coach believes that the strength of the Australian league - and level of the State of Origin matches between NSW and QLD - offer a much better foundation for performing at the highest level of the international game than what is on offer in the northern hemisphere.

Wane added that the congested Super League fixture schedule left no time for him to coach his players during the season, which will only raise additional concerns around how the national team can narrow the difference to Australia before travelling to the Southern Hemisphere in the next World Cup.

"They play a large number of internationals in their competition," Wane stated.

"We have ten to fifteen a year. We need highly competitive games to improve the domestic league and improve our chances of winning these sorts of games.

"It was impossible to even practice with the players. We never got on the field in the season and I had the full backing of all clubs in the domestic competition.

"I have also been in the shoes of the head coaches that need to win games. The competition is that congested. It's a pity but it's not the reason we got beaten today."