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According to skipper the England captain, the national team were delivered a stark "reality check" as Australia clinched the coveted Ashes trophy.

Australia's 14-4 victory at the Merseyside venue on the weekend gave them a unassailable 2-0 advantage, making next week's Headingley encounter a academic contest.

Shaun Wane's side had come into the series harbouring hopes of inflicting Australia to their initial series loss since over five decades ago.

Recently, they had secured a clean sweep over the Tongan side and a series win over Samoa. But as the prestigious competition returned after a 22-year absence, the English were unable to make the leap against the top-ranked team.

"We're not making excuses. There were enough sessions to get it right on the pitch, and it's clear we've quite done that," Williams commented.

"Full marks to the Kangaroos. They proved strong in defense. But we've got plenty to improve. We're probably not as good as we expected we were going into this series.

"So it's a necessary lesson for us, and [there is] loads to develop."

The Kangaroos 'Turn Up and Prove Clinical'

After being soundly beaten in an sloppy showing at the national stadium, England's were markedly enhanced on the weekend back in the traditional strongholds of the North.

In a rousing initial stages, England caused turnovers from the Australians and had all the field position and possession, but crucially did not capitalize on the points tally.

Tellingly, the English team have now managed just a single touchdown over the series so far, with St Helens hooker Daryl Clark barging over late on in the defeat in London.

In contrast, the Kangaroos have racked up half a dozen in two games - and when mistakes began to appear in the hosts' play just after the half-time, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be made to pay.

Initially Cameron Munster went over, and then so too did the forward. From being level at 4-4, England were 10 points adrift.

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

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

"The team is devastated. So proud the players had a go but very frustrated with that after half-time, which proved costly significantly."

Although the upcoming global tournament in Oceania is just under 12 months away, England's primary concern will be on attempting to regain respect, avoiding a series whitewash and addressing the issues that irritated Wane.

"I hoped to see greater effort thrown at Australia. I wanted us to maintain momentum in the game - we didn't do that last week," added the veteran coach.

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

"Credit to the Kangaroos - that is not a criticism to them. They arrive and are clinical when they capitalize, and we failed to be, but defensively we must do enhance.

"The Australians will be focused to win all three Tests and we need to be equally determined to make it a competitive series. I've told that to the players. This must become our main aim. It will be a tough week but whoever wants it the greatest will secure victory next week."

Competitive Edge Must to Improve in Domestic Competition

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

However Wane thinks that the strength of the Australian league - and level of the domestic rivalry matches between New South Wales and Queensland - offer a much better preparation for performing at the highest level of the global stage than what is on offer in the northern hemisphere.

Wane added that the congested domestic league calendar left little opportunity for him to train his team during the campaign, which will only pose more issues around how the national team can narrow the difference to Australia before travelling to Oceania in 2026.

"The Australians play a large number of internationals in their competition," Wane added.

"England have 10-15 a year. It's crucial highly competitive games to enhance the competition and boost our prospects of succeeding in these sorts of games.

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

"I have also been in the shoes of the head coaches that need to win games. The league is that congested. It's a pity but it's not the cause we were defeated today."