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As stated by captain the England captain, England were given a harsh "wake-up call" as the Kangaroos clinched the prestigious series.

The Kangaroos' 14-4 victory at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium on the weekend gave them a commanding series edge, making the upcoming Headingley encounter a academic contest.

The England team had come into the series harbouring hopes of sending the Kangaroos to their maiden Ashes setback since 1970.

Recently, they had secured a dominant victory over Tonga and a 2-0 triumph over the Samoan team. But as the prestigious competition returned after a two-decade hiatus, the English were failed to make the leap against the reigning title holders.

"We're not making excuses. We've had enough training periods to get it right on the pitch, and it's clear we've quite done that," the captain told.

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

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

The Kangaroos 'Arrive and Prove Clinical'

After being soundly beaten in an error-strewn display at the national stadium, England's were much improved on the weekend back in the core regions of the North.

In an inspiring first half, the home side elicited errors from the Australians and had superior positioning and ball control, but importantly did not capitalize on the points tally.

Significantly, the English team have now scored just one try over the series so far, with St Helens hooker Daryl Clark powering through late on in the loss in the capital.

Conversely, Australia have scored six in two games - and when errors began to affect the hosts' play just after the interval, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be severely punished.

Initially Cameron Munster crossed, and then so too did the forward. From being level at 4-4, the home side were down by double digits.

"Satisfied for the bulk of the game. In my view for most of the match we were solid," said Wane.

"The drop in intensity for a brief period after the break hurt us greatly. Munster's try was easy and should not be scored in a top-level game.

"We're devastated. So proud the players had a fight but so disappointed with that after half-time, which hurt us heavily."

Although the next World Cup in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under a year from now, the team's short-term goal will be on attempting to restore some pride, preventing a 3-0 sweep and addressing the errors that irritated Wane.

"I hoped to see more directed toward the opposition. I wanted us to build pressure in the game - we fell short last week," added the veteran coach.

"We managed this week. It's just a lack of precision in our offensive play where we could have put them under increased strain. It's essential to defend both [tries] better.

"Credit to Australia - that is no slight to them. They arrive and are merciless when they get a chance, and we weren't, but defensively we can and should do better.

"They will be determined to win all three Tests and we need to be equally determined to make it a competitive series. I've told that to the squad. It has to be our primary goal. It's going to be a challenging week but whoever strives for it the greatest will get the win next week."

Intensity Needs to Increase in Super League

England have participated in a similar number of international fixtures to the Kangaroos since the last World Cup in 2022.

Yet Wane believes that the strength of the Australian league - and standard of the domestic rivalry matches between New South Wales and QLD - provide a superior grounding for competing at the top of the global stage than what is on offer in the UK.

The England coach added that the congested Super League calendar allowed little opportunity for him to train his players during the season, which will only raise additional concerns around how England can close the divide to the Kangaroos before heading to the Southern Hemisphere in 2026.

"They participate in a large number of internationals in their competition," he added.

"We play 10-15 a year. We need demanding games to enhance the competition and boost our prospects of winning these sorts of games.

"It was impossible to even train with the players. There was no chance to got on the field in the campaign and I had the total cooperation of all clubs in the domestic competition.

"I understand in the position of the head coaches that must to win games. The competition is that packed. It's unfortunate but that's not the cause we were defeated today."