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According to captain the England captain, the national team were given a brutal "sobering lesson" as the Kangaroos secured the coveted Ashes trophy.

The Kangaroos' 14-4 victory at the stadium in Liverpool on Saturday gave them a unassailable 2-0 advantage, making the upcoming final match in Leeds a meaningless fixture.

The national squad had entered the series harbouring hopes of sending the Kangaroos to their initial series loss since 1970.

In the past two years, they had enjoyed a clean sweep over Tonga and a 2-0 triumph over Samoa. But as the Rugby League Ashes returned after a two-decade hiatus, the English were failed to make the leap against the world champions.

"No excuses from us. There were enough preparations to perform correctly on the field, and it's clear we've achieved that," Williams told.

"Credit to Australia. They proved good in defense. But there's loads to work on. It seems not as strong as we believed we were going into this series.

"So it's a necessary wake-up call for us, and we have plenty to enhance."

The Kangaroos 'Turn Up and Prove Ruthless'

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

In an inspiring opening period, the home side caused turnovers from the Kangaroos and had dominant territory and possession, but crucially did not convert opportunities on the points tally.

Notably, England have now scored just a single touchdown over two full matches, with player the forward powering through late on in the defeat in London.

In contrast, the Kangaroos have accumulated six across the series - and when blunders began to creep into the England's play just after the interval, it was a case of certainty, they were going to be severely punished.

First Cameron Munster scored, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being tied at 4-4, England were down by double digits.

"Satisfied for the bulk of the game. In my view for most of the match we were solid," said the coach.

"The switch off for 10 minutes after the break cost us severely. The first try was soft and should not be scored in a international fixture.

"The team is heartbroken. Extremely pleased the players had a go but so disappointed with that post-interval, which hurt us dearly."

Although the next World Cup in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under next year, the team's primary concern will be on attempting to salvage honor, avoiding a clean sweep and eliminating the errors that frustrated the coach.

"I hoped to see greater effort thrown at Australia. My aim was us to maintain momentum in the game - we fell short last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We did this week. The issue is a lack of precision in our offensive play where we could have put them under greater stress. We need to stop each of [tries] with greater resolve.

"Credit to the Kangaroos - that is no slight to them. They arrive and are merciless when they seize opportunities, and we failed to be, but in defense we must do enhance.

"The Australians will be obsessed to win all three Tests and we need to be obsessed to make it 2-1. I've told that to the players. It has to be our main aim. It's going to be a tough week but the side that strives for it the greatest will secure victory next week."

Competitive Edge Needs to Increase 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 caliber of the Australian league - and quality of the State of Origin matches between NSW and Queensland - provide a superior grounding for performing at the top of the international game than what is on offer in the UK.

The England coach noted that the congested Super League fixture list allowed little opportunity for him to work with his squad during the campaign, which will only raise additional concerns around how the national team can narrow the difference to the Kangaroos before heading to Oceania in 2026.

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

"England have ten to fifteen a year. It's crucial highly competitive games to improve the domestic league and increase our prospects of winning these sorts of games.

"I couldn't even practice with the players. There was no chance to trained together in the campaign and despite having the complete support of all clubs in the domestic competition.

"I have also been in the boots of the head coaches that need to win games. The league is that congested. It's unfortunate but that's not the cause we lost today."