🔗 Share this article

As stated by skipper George Williams, the national team were given a stark "wake-up call" as the Kangaroos clinched the prestigious series.

The Kangaroos' 14-4 victory at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday gave them a commanding series edge, making next week's final match in Leeds a academic contest.

Shaun Wane's side had entered the series dreaming of sending the Kangaroos to their maiden Ashes setback since over five decades ago.

Over the last 24 months, they had enjoyed a dominant victory over Tonga and a series win over the Samoan team. But as the prestigious competition returned after a two-decade hiatus, the English were failed to take the next step against the reigning title holders.

"No excuses from us. There were enough sessions to get it right on the pitch, and it's clear we've quite done that," Williams told.

"Australia deserve praise. They proved good in defense. But there's a lot to address. It seems not as good as we thought we were entering this series.

"So it's a necessary reality check for us, and there is much to improve on."

The Kangaroos 'Show Up and Prove Ruthless'

After being heavily outplayed in an sloppy showing at Wembley, Wane side's were significantly better on Saturday back in the traditional strongholds of northern England.

In a rousing first half, the home side caused turnovers from the Kangaroos and had dominant territory and possession, but unfortunately did not make it count on the scoreboard.

Notably, the English team have now scored just one score over the series so far, with player Daryl Clark scoring late on in the loss in London.

In contrast, the Kangaroos have scored six across the series - and when mistakes began to creep into the England's play just after the break, 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 four-all, England were down by double digits.

"Satisfied for the bulk of the game. I thought for 70 minutes we were competitive," said the coach.

"The drop in intensity for a brief period after the break hurt us severely. Munster's try was easy and should never happen in a top-level game.

"We're deeply disappointed. So proud the squad had a fight but very frustrated with that after half-time, which proved costly dearly."

Although the next World Cup in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under next year, England's immediate focus will be on trying to salvage honor, preventing a series whitewash and addressing the mistakes that annoyed the coach.

"I wanted to see additional intensity directed toward Australia. I wanted us to build pressure in the game - we didn't do that last week," added the veteran coach.

"We managed this week. The issue is a bit of detail in our attack where we could have put them under more pressure. We need to stop each of [tries] better.

"Fair play to the Kangaroos - that is not a criticism to them. They perform and are ruthless when they seize opportunities, and we failed to be, but defensively we can and should do improve.

"The Australians will be focused to win all three Tests and we need to be equally determined to make it a respectable scoreline. I've told that to the squad. This must become our primary goal. It's going to be a difficult week but whoever strives for it the most will secure victory next week."

Competitive Edge Must to Improve in Domestic Competition

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

However Wane argues that the quality of the NRL - and standard of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and QLD - deliver a more effective foundation for performing at the top of the international game than what is available in the northern hemisphere.

Wane commented that the packed domestic league fixture schedule allowed little opportunity for him to coach his team during the season, which will only pose further questions around how the national team can narrow the difference to the Kangaroos before travelling to Oceania in the next World Cup.

"The Australians play a large number of internationals in their league," Wane stated.

"England have ten to fifteen a year. It's crucial highly competitive games to boost the competition and boost our chances of succeeding in these sorts of games.

"It was impossible to even train with the players. We never got on the field in the season and I had the total cooperation of all clubs in Super League.

"I understand in the boots of the club managers that need to win games. The competition is that tight. It's unfortunate but that's not the cause we lost today."