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According to skipper the England captain, England were handed a brutal "sobering lesson" as Australia clinched the prestigious series.

Australia's 14-4 victory at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday gave them a commanding series edge, making the upcoming Headingley encounter a dead rubber.

The England team had come into the series holding aspirations of inflicting the Kangaroos to their maiden Ashes setback since the 1970s.

Over the last 24 months, they had secured a 3-0 series win over the Tongan side and a 2-0 triumph over Samoa. But as the prestigious competition resumed after a long break, the English were unable to make the leap against the world champions.

"No excuses from us. There were enough training periods to perform correctly on the pitch, and I don't think we've achieved that," the captain stated.

"Credit to Australia. They proved excellent defensively. But we've got plenty to work on. It seems not as strong as we thought we were entering this series.

"This serves as a good reality check for us, and there is much to develop."

The Kangaroos 'Show Up and Are Clinical'

After being comprehensively defeated in an error-strewn display at Wembley, England's were much improved on Saturday back in the traditional strongholds of northern England.

In a rousing opening period, the home side forced mistakes from the Australians and had all the field position and possession, but unfortunately did not capitalize on the scoreboard.

Tellingly, England have now scored just a single touchdown over two full matches, with St Helens hooker the forward powering through late on in the defeat in the capital.

Conversely, the Kangaroos have accumulated six so far - and when errors began to affect the England's play just after the break, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be severely punished.

Initially the playmaker went over, and then so too did the forward. From being tied at 4-4, England were down by double digits.

"Satisfied 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 cost us severely. The first try was soft and should not be scored in a international fixture.

"The team is deeply disappointed. Extremely pleased the players had a dig but very frustrated with that post-interval, which proved costly heavily."

While the next World Cup in Oceania is just under next year, the team's short-term goal will be on attempting to salvage honor, avoiding a series whitewash and eliminating the mistakes that frustrated the coach.

"I wanted to see greater effort thrown at Australia. I wanted us to maintain momentum in the game - we fell short last week," added the veteran coach.

"We managed this week. The issue is a lack of precision in our offense where we could have applied under more pressure. We need to stop each of [tries] better.

"Credit to Australia - that is no detriment to them. They turn up and are clinical when they seize opportunities, and we weren't, but in defense we can and should do better.

"They will be focused to win the series whitewash and we need to be equally determined to make it a competitive series. I've told that to the squad. This must become our primary goal. It will be a tough week but the side that wants it the greatest will secure victory next week."

Competitive Edge Must to Elevate in Domestic Competition

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

However Wane believes that the quality of the NRL - and quality of the State of Origin matches between NSW and Queensland - provide a more effective foundation for performing at the top of the global stage than what is available in the Europe.

Wane commented that the packed Super League fixture list left little opportunity for him to work with his team during the season, which will only raise further questions around how the national team can bridge the gap to Australia before heading to the Southern Hemisphere in 2026.

"The Australians play a lot of internationals in their league," he stated.

"We play ten to fifteen a year. It's crucial really intense games to enhance the domestic league and improve our prospects of succeeding in these types of matches.

"It was impossible to even practice with the squad. There was no chance to trained together in the campaign and despite having the complete support of everyone in Super League.

"I understand in the position of the head coaches that need to win games. The competition is that packed. It's a pity but it's not the reason we got beaten today."