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According to leader the England captain, the national team were delivered 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 the upcoming final match in Leeds a dead rubber.

The England team had come into the series harbouring hopes of inflicting Australia to their initial series loss since over five decades ago.

Recently, they had achieved a dominant victory over the Tongan side and a 2-0 triumph over the Samoan team. But as the prestigious competition returned after a long break, England were unable to take the next step against the top-ranked team.

"No excuses from us. There were enough sessions to perform correctly on the pitch, and it's clear we've managed that," the captain stated.

"Credit to Australia. They proved strong in defense. But there's a lot to address. It seems not as prepared as we expected we were going into this series.

"So it's a necessary wake-up call for us, and there is much to develop."

The Kangaroos 'Arrive and Are Ruthless'

Having been comprehensively defeated in an mistake-ridden performance at the national stadium, Wane side's were much improved on the weekend back in the rugby league heartlands of England's north.

During an energetic first half, the home side elicited errors from the Australians and had dominant territory and ball control, but importantly did not capitalize on the scoreboard.

Significantly, the English team have now scored just one score over the series so far, with player the forward barging over late on in the defeat in London.

Conversely, the Kangaroos have accumulated half a dozen in two games - and when errors began to creep into the England's play just after the half-time, it was a case of certainty, they were going to be severely punished.

First Cameron Munster crossed, and then so too did the forward. From being level at four-all, England were down by double digits.

"Proud for the majority of the game. In my view for most of the match we were competitive," said the coach.

"The lapse for 10 minutes after the break cost us severely. The first try was soft and should never happen in a Test match.

"The team is deeply disappointed. So proud the players had a dig but very frustrated with that post-interval, which cost us significantly."

While the upcoming global tournament in Oceania is just under next year, England's primary concern will be on trying to salvage honor, preventing a clean sweep and eradicating the issues that irritated the coach.

"I wanted to see more thrown at Australia. My aim was us to maintain momentum in the game - we failed to deliver last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We did this week. It's just a bit of detail in our offensive play where we could have put them under increased strain. It's essential to stop each of [tries] more effectively.

"Credit to the Kangaroos - that is not a criticism to them. They perform and are clinical when they capitalize, and we failed to be, but in defense we can and should do enhance.

"The Australians will be focused to win all three Tests 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 difficult week but whoever desires it the greatest will secure victory next week."

Intensity Needs to Increase in Domestic Competition

The English side have played a comparable number of Test matches to the Kangaroos since the last World Cup in recent years.

However Wane argues that the strength of the NRL - and level of the domestic rivalry matches between NSW and QLD - provide a more effective grounding for competing at the highest level of the international game than what is available in the Europe.

The England coach added that the packed Super League fixture list left little opportunity for him to coach his players during the season, which will only raise additional concerns around how England can bridge the gap to the Kangaroos before heading to Oceania in the next World Cup.

"The Australians participate in a lot of Test matches in their league," Wane added.

"England play 10-15 a year. We need highly competitive games to enhance the domestic league and improve our chances of succeeding in these sorts of games.

"It was impossible to even train with the squad. There was no chance to 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 shoes of the club managers that must to win games. The league is that tight. It's unfortunate but that's not the cause we were defeated today."