The English Rugby League Ashes Ambitions End with Brutal 'Reality Check'

As stated by leader George Williams, England were delivered a harsh "wake-up call" as Australia clinched the Rugby League Ashes.

Australia's 14-4 victory at the stadium in Liverpool on Saturday gave them a commanding series edge, making next week's final match in Leeds a dead rubber.

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

Over the last 24 months, they had achieved a dominant victory over Tonga and a success over Samoa. But as the Rugby League Ashes resumed after a 22-year absence, England were failed to take the next step against the reigning title holders.

"We take full responsibility. There were enough sessions to get it right on the field, and it's clear we've achieved that," the captain stated.

"Full marks to the Kangaroos. They were good defensively. But there's loads to address. It seems not as good as we thought we were entering this series.

"So it's a valuable reality check for us, and there is much to develop."

The Kangaroos 'Arrive and Are Merciless'

Having been comprehensively defeated in an sloppy showing at the national stadium, England's were markedly enhanced on the weekend back in the traditional strongholds of the North.

In a rousing initial stages, the home side caused turnovers from the Australians and had superior positioning and possession, but importantly did not capitalize on the scoreboard.

Notably, the English team have now managed just a single touchdown over 160 minutes, with player the forward powering through late on in the defeat in the capital.

Conversely, Australia have racked up half a dozen in two games - and when blunders began to appear in the England's play just after the interval, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be heavily penalized.

First the playmaker scored, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being level at four-all, England were trailing by 10.

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

"The drop in intensity for a brief period after the break damaged us severely. The first try was soft and should never happen in a Test match.

"The team is devastated. Extremely pleased the squad had a dig but so disappointed with that post-interval, which cost us heavily."

Although the upcoming global tournament in Oceania is just under a year from now, the team's short-term goal will be on trying to restore some pride, preventing a clean sweep and addressing the issues that irritated Wane.

"I hoped to see more thrown at the opposition. My aim was us to apply sustained attack in the game - we failed to deliver last week," added the veteran coach.

"We did this week. It's just a bit of detail in our offense 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 arrive and are merciless when they get a chance, and we weren't, but defensively we can and should do improve.

"The Australians will be focused to win the series whitewash and we need to be equally determined to make it a respectable scoreline. I've told that to the players. This must become our main aim. It's going to be a challenging week but whoever desires it the most will emerge victorious next week."

Competitive Edge Needs to Elevate in Domestic Competition

The English side have played a comparable number of Test matches to Australia since the previous global tournament in recent years.

Yet Wane thinks that the quality of the NRL - and quality of the State of Origin matches between NSW and QLD - offer a much better foundation for competing at the highest level of the international game than what is available in the northern hemisphere.

The England coach noted that the packed Super League calendar allowed little opportunity for him to train his squad during the season, which will only raise further questions around how England can narrow the difference to the Kangaroos before travelling to Oceania in the next World Cup.

"The Australians play a lot of internationals in their league," Wane remarked.

"England have 10-15 a year. We need highly competitive games to boost the competition and increase our prospects of winning these types of matches.

"I couldn't even train with the squad. There was no chance to trained together in the campaign and despite having the total cooperation of everyone in Super League.

"I have also been in the boots of the club managers that must to win games. The league is that tight. It's a pity but that's not the reason we lost today."