Australia Beat England to Keep the Rugby League Ashes
According to skipper the England captain, England were given a harsh "reality check" as Australia clinched the Rugby League Ashes.
The Kangaroos' 14-4 victory at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday gave them a commanding series edge, making the upcoming final match in Leeds a academic contest.
The England team had entered the series dreaming of inflicting Australia to their maiden Ashes setback since the 1970s.
Over the last 24 months, they had achieved a 3-0 series win over the Tongan side and a 2-0 triumph over Samoa. But as the prestigious competition resumed after a two-decade hiatus, the English were failed to make the leap against the top-ranked team.
"We're not making excuses. We've had enough training periods to get it right on the pitch, and I don't think we've quite done that," the captain told.
"Credit to Australia. They were excellent in defense. But we've got a lot to address. We're probably not as prepared as we expected we were entering this series.
"So it's a necessary wake-up call for us, and we have plenty to develop."
Australia 'Arrive and Prove Merciless'
The Kangaroos scored two tries in a brief period during the latter stage of the Weekend clash
After being heavily outplayed in an sloppy showing at Wembley, England's were markedly enhanced on Saturday back in the core regions of the North.
During an energetic opening period, England caused turnovers from the Kangaroos and had superior positioning and possession, but importantly did not convert opportunities on the scoreboard.
Tellingly, England have now managed just one try over two full matches, with St Helens hooker Daryl Clark scoring late on in the setback in London.
On the other hand, the Kangaroos have scored six so far - and when mistakes began to affect the England's play just after the half-time, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be heavily penalized.
First the playmaker went over, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being level at four-all, England were 10 points adrift.
"Satisfied for the bulk of the game. In my view for 70 minutes we were good," said the coach.
"The switch off for 10 minutes after the break hurt us immensely. Munster's try was avoidable and should not be scored in a top-level game.
"We're deeply disappointed. Extremely pleased the squad had a go but very frustrated with that after half-time, which proved costly dearly."
Although the next World Cup in Oceania is just under a year from now, England's short-term goal will be on trying to restore some pride, avoiding a 3-0 sweep and addressing the mistakes that annoyed the coach.
"I hoped to see greater effort thrown at Australia. I wanted us to build pressure in the game - we fell short last week," added the veteran coach.
"We did this week. It's just a bit of detail in our attack where we could have put them under greater stress. We need to stop each of [tries] better.
"Fair play to the Kangaroos - that is not a criticism to them. They perform and are merciless when they seize opportunities, and we weren't, but in defense we can and should do enhance.
"They will be obsessed to win all three Tests and we need to be equally determined to make it a competitive series. I've said that to the squad. It has to be our main aim. It's going to be a challenging week but the side that wants it the most will get the win next week."
Competitive Edge Needs to Elevate in Super League
The English side have played a comparable number of international fixtures to Australia since the previous global tournament in recent years.
However the coach believes that the strength of the NRL - and level of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and QLD - deliver a superior grounding for competing at the highest level of the international game than what is available in the northern hemisphere.
Wane noted that the congested domestic league fixture list left no time for him to train his team during the season, which will only pose additional concerns around how England can bridge the gap to Australia before heading to Oceania in the next World Cup.
"The Australians participate in a large number of Test matches in their competition," Wane stated.
"England have 10-15 a year. We need highly competitive games to boost the domestic league and boost our chances of succeeding in these types of matches.
"It was impossible to even practice with the players. We never trained together in the season and despite having the complete support of all clubs in Super League.
"I have also been in the boots of the head coaches that must to win games. The league is that packed. It's a pity but that's not the reason we got beaten today."
