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According to leader the England captain, the national team were handed a stark "sobering lesson" as Australia won the prestigious series.

The Kangaroos' 14-4 victory at the Merseyside venue on Saturday gave them a unassailable 2-0 advantage, making the upcoming final match in Leeds a academic contest.

The England team had come into the series holding aspirations of sending Australia to their initial series loss since 1970.

In the past two years, they had achieved a dominant victory over the Tongan side and a series win over the Samoan team. But as the prestigious competition resumed after a 22-year absence, the English were failed to advance further against the top-ranked team.

"We're not making excuses. There were enough sessions to perform correctly on the pitch, and it's clear we've achieved that," the captain told.

"Credit to Australia. They proved strong defensively. But there's plenty to address. It seems not as prepared as we thought we were going into this series.

"This serves as a good lesson for us, and there is much to improve on."

The Kangaroos 'Turn Up and Are Merciless'

Having been comprehensively defeated in an sloppy showing at Wembley, Wane side's were much improved on Saturday back in the traditional strongholds of the North.

During an energetic opening period, England elicited errors from the Australians and had dominant territory and possession, but crucially did not make it count on the points tally.

Significantly, the English team have now scored just one score over two full matches, with player Daryl Clark powering through late on in the defeat in London.

In contrast, the Kangaroos have scored six in two games - and when mistakes began to affect the hosts' play just after the break, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be severely punished.

First Cameron Munster scored, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being level at 4-4, the home side were trailing by 10.

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

"The switch off for a brief period after the break damaged us greatly. The first try was avoidable and should not be scored in a top-level game.

"The team is devastated. Extremely pleased the players had a dig but very frustrated with that after half-time, which proved costly heavily."

While the next World Cup in the Southern Hemisphere is just under next year, England's primary concern will be on trying to restore some pride, preventing a series whitewash and eliminating the errors that irritated the coach.

"I wanted to see additional intensity thrown at Australia. 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 lack of precision in our offensive play where we could have applied under increased strain. We need to stop each of [tries] better.

"Credit to Australia - that is not a criticism to them. They turn up and are merciless when they capitalize, and we failed to be, but defensively we must do better.

"The Australians will be determined to win the series whitewash and we need to be obsessed to make it a competitive series. I've said that to the players. This must become our obsession. It's going to be a difficult week but the side that wants it the most will get the win next week."

Intensity Must to Increase in Super League

The English side have participated in a comparable number of international fixtures to the Kangaroos since the previous global tournament in 2022.

Yet Wane argues that the caliber of the NRL - and standard of the domestic rivalry matches between New South Wales and QLD - offer a more effective preparation for performing at the top of the global stage than what is on offer in the Europe.

Wane commented that the packed domestic league fixture list left little opportunity for him to coach his team during the campaign, which will only pose additional concerns around how the national team can close the divide to the Kangaroos before travelling to the Southern Hemisphere in the next World Cup.

"The Australians participate in a lot of internationals in their competition," he added.

"England play ten to fifteen a year. It's crucial demanding games to boost the competition and boost our prospects of succeeding in these sorts of games.

"I couldn't even train with the players. We never got on the field in the season and I had the full backing of everyone in the domestic competition.

"I have also been in the position of the head coaches that must to win games. The competition is that tight. It's a pity but that's not the reason we lost today."