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As stated by skipper the England captain, the national team were delivered a harsh "sobering lesson" as Australia secured the coveted Ashes trophy.

The Kangaroos' 14-4 triumph at the stadium in Liverpool on the weekend gave them a unassailable 2-0 advantage, making next week's Headingley encounter a meaningless fixture.

Shaun Wane's side had entered the series holding aspirations of sending Australia to their first Ashes series defeat since over five decades ago.

Recently, they had achieved a dominant victory over Tonga and a 2-0 triumph over Samoa. But as the historic rivalry resumed after a 22-year absence, England were failed to advance further against the reigning title holders.

"We're not making excuses. There were enough preparations to perform correctly on the pitch, and it's clear we've managed that," Williams commented.

"Credit to Australia. They were excellent in defense. But we've got plenty to work on. We're probably not as good as we thought we were entering this series.

"So it's a necessary reality check for us, and there is much to improve on."

Australia 'Show Up and Prove Clinical'

After being comprehensively defeated in an sloppy showing at Wembley, Wane side's were significantly better on Saturday back in the rugby league heartlands of northern England.

During an energetic opening period, England forced mistakes from the Kangaroos and had superior positioning and possession, but unfortunately did not make it count on the points tally.

Tellingly, the English team have now scored just one score over the series so far, with player the forward powering through late on in the setback in the capital.

Conversely, Australia have scored half a dozen so far - and when blunders began to creep into the England's play just after the break, it was a case of certainty, they were going to be heavily penalized.

Initially Cameron Munster crossed, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being level at four-all, the home side were 10 points adrift.

"Satisfied for the majority of the game. In my view for most of the match we were good," said Wane.

"The lapse for 10 minutes after half-time hurt us immensely. Munster's try was easy and should never happen in a Test match.

"The team is devastated. Extremely pleased the players had a fight but so disappointed with that post-interval, which cost us significantly."

Although the next World Cup in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under 12 months away, England's immediate focus will be on attempting to salvage honor, avoiding a series whitewash and eliminating the issues that irritated the coach.

"I hoped to see more thrown at Australia. My aim was us to build pressure in the game - we fell short last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We managed this week. The issue is a minor refinements in our attack where we could have put them under greater stress. We need to defend both [tries] more effectively.

"Credit to Australia - that is no slight to them. They arrive and are clinical when they seize opportunities, and we failed to be, but in defense we can and should do enhance.

"They will be obsessed to win the series whitewash and we need to be equally determined to make it 2-1. I've said that to the squad. This must become our main aim. It will be a difficult week but whoever strives for it the most will emerge victorious next week."

Intensity Needs to Improve in Domestic Competition

England have participated in a similar number of Test matches to Australia since the last World Cup in 2022.

However the coach thinks that the quality of the Australian league - and standard of the State of Origin matches between NSW and QLD - provide a much better foundation for competing at the top of the global stage than what is on offer in the UK.

Wane added that the hectic domestic league fixture list left no time for him to coach his team during the season, which will only raise further questions around how England can close the divide to the Kangaroos before travelling to Oceania in the next World Cup.

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

"We have 10-15 a year. We need highly competitive games to improve the domestic league and boost our prospects of winning these sorts of games.

"I couldn't even train with the players. We never got on the field in the campaign and I had the complete support of everyone in Super League.

"I understand in the shoes of the club managers that need to win games. The competition is that tight. It's unfortunate but that's not the reason we were defeated today."