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In the words of skipper the England captain, the national team were given a brutal "wake-up call" as the Kangaroos clinched the Rugby League Ashes.

The Kangaroos' decisive 14-4 win at the Merseyside venue on Saturday gave them a unassailable 2-0 advantage, making next week's sold-out third Test a meaningless fixture.

The England team had come into the series harbouring hopes of inflicting Australia to their first Ashes series defeat since 1970.

Recently, they had achieved a 3-0 series win over the Tongan side and a success over Samoa. But as the Rugby League Ashes returned after a 22-year absence, the English were failed to make the leap against the top-ranked team.

"We're not making excuses. We've had enough training periods to execute properly on the pitch, and I don't think we've managed that," Williams commented.

"Credit to Australia. They were excellent defensively. But there's a lot to improve. It seems not as prepared as we thought we were entering this series.

"So it's a valuable reality check for us, and [there is] loads to develop."

The Kangaroos 'Arrive 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 northern England.

In a rousing first half, the home side forced mistakes from the Kangaroos and had dominant territory and ball control, but importantly did not make it count on the points tally.

Significantly, the English team have now scored just one try over the series so far, with St Helens hooker the forward scoring late on in the defeat in London.

In contrast, Australia have scored six across the series - and when blunders began to appear in the England's play just after the half-time, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be made to pay.

First Cameron Munster went over, and then so too did the forward. From being level at 4-4, England 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 the break hurt us immensely. Munster's try was easy and should not be scored in a top-level game.

"The team is devastated. Extremely pleased the players had a go but so disappointed with that after half-time, which cost us heavily."

While the next World Cup in the Southern Hemisphere is just under a year from now, the team's primary concern will be on trying to restore some pride, avoiding a 3-0 sweep and eliminating the errors that irritated the coach.

"I hoped to see greater effort directed toward the opposition. My aim was us to build pressure in the game - we didn't do that last week," added the veteran coach.

"We did this week. It's just a bit of detail in our offense where we could have put them under greater stress. We need to defend both [tries] more effectively.

"Fair play to the Kangaroos - that is not a criticism to them. They turn up and are merciless when they get a chance, and we failed to be, but defensively we can and should do better.

"The Australians will be focused to win the series whitewash 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's going to be a challenging week but the side that strives for it the greatest will secure victory next week."

Competitive Edge Must to Elevate in Super League

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

Yet Wane argues that the caliber of the Australian league - and quality of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and Queensland - deliver a much better grounding for performing at the highest level of the global stage than what is on offer in the northern hemisphere.

Wane noted that the congested Super League fixture schedule left little opportunity for him to work with his team during the season, which will only raise more issues around how the national team can bridge the gap to Australia before travelling to Oceania in the next World Cup.

"The Australians play a lot of internationals in their league," he remarked.

"We play ten to fifteen a year. It's crucial really intense games to boost the domestic league and improve our chances of winning these high-stakes fixtures.

"I couldn't even train with the squad. There was no chance to trained together in the campaign and despite having the total cooperation of all clubs in the domestic competition.

"I understand in the position of the head coaches that need to win games. The league is that packed. It's a pity but that's not the reason we lost today."