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As stated by skipper the England captain, England were handed a stark "reality check" as Australia secured the Rugby League Ashes.

The Kangaroos' 14-4 triumph at the stadium in Liverpool on the weekend gave them a 2-0 series lead, making the upcoming final match in Leeds a meaningless fixture.

The national squad had entered the series holding aspirations of inflicting the Kangaroos to their first Ashes series defeat since the 1970s.

Recently, they had enjoyed a dominant victory over Tonga and a 2-0 triumph over Samoa. But as the historic rivalry resumed after a 22-year absence, the English were failed to make the leap against the world champions.

"We take full responsibility. There were enough sessions to execute properly on the pitch, and I don't think we've quite done that," Williams told.

"Credit to Australia. They were excellent in defense. But we've got loads to address. We're probably not as prepared as we expected we were going into this series.

"So it's a valuable lesson for us, and we have plenty to develop."

Australia 'Turn Up and Are Clinical'

Having been heavily outplayed in an sloppy showing at Wembley, Wane side's were markedly enhanced on the weekend back in the core regions of the North.

In an inspiring initial stages, England forced mistakes from the Kangaroos and had superior positioning and ball control, but importantly did not capitalize on the points tally.

Notably, the English team have now managed just a single touchdown over two full matches, with player the forward scoring late on in the setback in the capital.

On the other hand, the Kangaroos have racked up half a dozen across the series - and when mistakes began to appear in the England's play just after the interval, it was a case of certainty, they were going to be severely punished.

Initially the playmaker went over, and then so too did the forward. From being level at four-all, the home side were trailing by 10.

"Proud for the bulk of the game. In my view for 70 minutes we were competitive," said the coach.

"The drop in intensity for a brief period after half-time damaged us greatly. The first try was easy and should not be scored in a Test match.

"The team is deeply disappointed. Extremely pleased the players had a fight but so disappointed with that second-half lapse, which proved costly dearly."

Although the upcoming global tournament in the Southern Hemisphere is just under next year, England's primary concern will be on attempting to regain respect, preventing a 3-0 sweep and eliminating the mistakes that annoyed the coach.

"I hoped to see greater effort directed toward Australia. I wanted us to apply sustained attack in the game - we failed to deliver last week," added the 61-year-old.

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

"Credit to Australia - that is no slight to them. They arrive and are merciless when they get a chance, and we failed to be, but defensively we must do better.

"The Australians will be obsessed to win 3-0 and we need to be just as focused to make it a competitive series. I've told that to the squad. It has to be our primary goal. It will be a difficult week but the side that strives for it the greatest will secure victory next week."

Intensity Needs to Elevate in Domestic Competition

The English side have played a similar number of Test matches to Australia since the last World Cup in 2022.

However Wane argues that the quality of the NRL - and level of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and Queensland - deliver a more effective foundation for competing at the highest level of the international game than what is available in the Europe.

Wane added that the hectic Super League fixture list allowed little opportunity for him to coach his squad during the campaign, which will only pose additional concerns around how England can bridge the gap to the Kangaroos before travelling to Oceania in 2026.

"The Australians play a lot of Test matches in their competition," he added.

"We play 10-15 a year. It's crucial highly competitive games to boost the competition and improve our chances of succeeding in these high-stakes fixtures.

"I couldn't even practice with the squad. There was no chance to trained together in the campaign and I had the full backing 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 tight. It's a pity but it's not the cause we got beaten today."