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In the words of leader the England captain, the national team were given a stark "sobering lesson" as the Kangaroos clinched the Rugby League Ashes.

The Kangaroos' 14-4 triumph at the stadium in Liverpool on Saturday gave them a commanding series edge, making next week's Headingley encounter a meaningless fixture.

The England team had come into the series dreaming of inflicting Australia to their maiden Ashes setback since over five decades ago.

Over the last 24 months, they had secured a clean sweep over Tonga and a success over Samoa. But as the historic rivalry resumed after a two-decade hiatus, the English were unable to take the next step against the top-ranked team.

"We take full responsibility. We've had enough training periods to get it right on the field, and I don't think we've managed that," the captain commented.

"Full marks to the Kangaroos. They proved good in defense. But there's loads to address. We're probably not as good as we believed we were entering this series.

"This serves as a necessary wake-up call for us, and there is much to improve on."

Australia 'Turn Up and Prove Merciless'

After being heavily outplayed in an mistake-ridden performance at the national stadium, England's were significantly better on the weekend back in the core regions of northern England.

In a rousing opening period, the home side elicited errors from the Kangaroos and had dominant territory and ball control, but crucially did not convert opportunities on the scoreboard.

Notably, the English team have now scored just a single touchdown over two full matches, with St Helens hooker the forward scoring late on in the defeat in London.

In contrast, the Kangaroos have accumulated half a dozen across the series - and when mistakes began to appear in the hosts' play just after the interval, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be severely punished.

First Cameron Munster went over, and then so too did the forward. From being level at 4-4, the home side were 10 points adrift.

"Proud for the majority of the game. I thought for 70 minutes we were solid," said the coach.

"The drop in intensity for a brief period after the break damaged us immensely. The first try was avoidable and should never happen in a top-level game.

"The team is deeply disappointed. So proud the squad had a dig but so disappointed with that second-half lapse, which proved costly heavily."

While the upcoming global tournament in Oceania is just under 12 months away, England's immediate focus will be on trying to regain respect, preventing a 3-0 sweep and addressing the mistakes that annoyed the coach.

"I wanted to see greater effort thrown at Australia. 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. It's essential to stop each of [tries] more effectively.

"Fair play to Australia - that is not a criticism to them. They arrive and are clinical when they capitalize, and we failed to be, but defensively 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 competitive series. I've told that to the players. This must become our main aim. It will be a tough week but the side that desires it the greatest will get the win next week."

Competitive Edge Needs to Elevate in Domestic Competition

England have participated in a comparable number of Test matches to Australia since the previous global tournament in recent years.

However Wane thinks that the caliber of the NRL - and quality of the State of Origin matches between NSW and QLD - provide a superior foundation for performing at the highest level of the international game than what is available in the UK.

The England coach commented that the congested domestic league fixture schedule left no time for him to train his team during the season, which will only pose further questions around how England can bridge the gap to the Kangaroos before heading to Oceania in 2026.

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

"England have ten to fifteen a year. It's crucial highly competitive games to enhance the competition and increase our prospects of succeeding in these types of matches.

"It was impossible to even practice with the squad. We never got on the field in the campaign and I had the complete support of all clubs in Super League.

"I have also been in the shoes of the club managers that need to win games. The competition is that congested. It's a pity but it's not the cause we were defeated today."