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According to captain the England captain, England were handed a stark "wake-up call" as the Kangaroos secured the coveted Ashes trophy.

The Kangaroos' 14-4 victory at the stadium in Liverpool on the weekend gave them a commanding series edge, making next week's sold-out third Test a meaningless fixture.

The national squad had come into the series dreaming of inflicting Australia to their initial series loss since over five decades ago.

Over the last 24 months, they had enjoyed a dominant victory over the Tongan side and a 2-0 triumph over the Samoan team. But as the Rugby League Ashes resumed after a 22-year absence, the English were unable to make the leap against the top-ranked team.

"We take full responsibility. There were enough preparations to perform correctly on the field, and I don't think we've quite done that," Williams stated.

"Australia deserve praise. They proved strong in defense. But there's loads to address. It seems not as strong as we thought we were going into this series.

"This serves as a necessary reality check for us, and we have plenty to improve on."

The Kangaroos 'Show Up and Are Merciless'

Having been heavily outplayed in an sloppy showing at Wembley, England's were significantly better on Saturday back in the traditional strongholds of England's north.

During an energetic opening period, the home side forced mistakes from the Australians and had superior positioning and possession, but unfortunately did not capitalize on the scoreboard.

Tellingly, England have now scored just one score over 160 minutes, with player the forward powering through late on in the setback in the capital.

Conversely, Australia have scored half a dozen across the series - and when blunders began to affect the England's play just after the half-time, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be made to pay.

Initially Cameron Munster crossed, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being level at 4-4, England were trailing by 10.

"Proud for the majority of the game. I thought for 70 minutes we were solid," said the coach.

"The lapse for a brief period after the break cost us severely. Munster's try was easy and should not be scored in a top-level game.

"We're devastated. Extremely pleased the squad had a go but very frustrated with that post-interval, which proved costly heavily."

While 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, preventing a 3-0 sweep and addressing the errors that annoyed Wane.

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

"We did this week. The issue is a lack of precision in our offense where we could have applied under increased strain. It's essential to stop each of [tries] with greater resolve.

"Fair play to the Kangaroos - that is no slight to them. They perform and are ruthless when they seize opportunities, and we failed to be, but defensively we must do better.

"The Australians will be obsessed to win the series whitewash and we need to be obsessed to make it 2-1. I've told that to the squad. It has to be our obsession. It's going to be a tough week but the side that strives for it the greatest will secure victory next week."

Intensity Needs to Increase in Super League

England have played a comparable number of Test matches to Australia since the last World Cup in recent years.

Yet Wane believes that the quality of the NRL - and level of the domestic rivalry matches between NSW and Queensland - offer a more effective foundation for competing at the highest level of the global stage than what is available in the Europe.

Wane added that the packed domestic league fixture schedule allowed little opportunity for him to work with his players during the campaign, which will only raise additional concerns around how the national team can bridge the gap to Australia before travelling to Oceania in 2026.

"They participate in a large number of Test matches in their league," he remarked.

"England play ten to fifteen a year. It's crucial highly competitive games to enhance the competition and improve our chances of succeeding in these types of matches.

"I couldn't even practice with the squad. There was no chance to trained together in the campaign and despite having the full backing of all clubs in Super League.

"I have also been in the boots of the club managers that need to win games. The league is that congested. It's unfortunate but that's not the reason we were defeated today."