World champions Australia retained the Ashes after a 14-4 victory over England on Saturday gave them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Two quickfire second-half tries from man-of-the-match Cameron Munster and Hudson Young at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium broke English resistance after the two sides were tied 4-4 at the break.
“England played their best. We gave it to them on a silver plate in the first half, but the scramble in defence was really good,” Munster told BBC.
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“When you don’t complete (tackle sets) and you defend a fair bit, there is a lot of fatigue. England came out and bashed us.”
England head coach Shaun Wane added: “End of the day, they won the Ashes and we didn’t. Really disappointing. I thought we had a hold of the game at times, but it wasn’t enough against a really good team.
“We didn’t have that killer instinct at their end, but we created a lot.”
England went down 26-6 in a one-sided opener of the first Ashes series since 2003 last week at Wembley, but the home side more than matched the Kangaroos for the first 40 minutes in the second game.
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Nathan Cleary got Australia on the board with a third-minute penalty after Jez Litten was pinged for holding down omnipresent skipper Harry Grant.
The incident sparked a 26-man brawl which saw England winger Dom Young and Australian second rower Tino Fa’asuamaleaui sent to the sin bin.
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Tom Johnstone went close down the left wing as England piled on the pressure, Harry Smith drawing the scores level with his own penalty.
Star fullback Reece Walsh, who scored two tries in the first Test, was on hand to bundle Dom Young into touch as he went for the line after a nice offload by Herbie Farnsworth.
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But Walsh’s effort was adjudged high and England pressed again before Morgan Knowles spilt the ball.
Walsh was then lucky to get away with a tryline fumble, with Knowles again knocking on, and then underestimating Young’s reach in pursuit of a grubber as the deadball line saved the day.
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Australia enjoyed a rare foray into English territory, making it count as Cleary booted a second penalty.
Smith kicked a second penalty to make it level at half-time after Walsh impeded AJ Brimson chasing an up-and-under.
The Kangaroos got off to a perfect start to the second period, Munster showing great strength to ride Williams’ tackle and spin over for the game’s opening try.
A second try came just four minutes later, Kotoni Staggs outjumping Johnstone to palm down a Cleary up-and-under into the hands of Hudson Young, who barrelled over.
Cleary was successful with the extras and suddenly Australia were 10 points clear.
Walsh was yellow-carded for taking Dom Young out in the air, but England failed to breach the indomitable Australian defensiveline.
The result means that England, or Britain, have not won an Ashes series since 1970.
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