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As stated by captain the England captain, the national team were handed a harsh "reality check" as Australia secured the Rugby League Ashes.

Australia's 14-4 victory at the Merseyside venue on the weekend gave them a unassailable 2-0 advantage, making next week's final match in Leeds a dead rubber.

Shaun Wane's side had come into the series harbouring hopes of inflicting the Kangaroos to their first Ashes series defeat since over five decades ago.

Recently, they had achieved a dominant victory over Tonga and a success over Samoa. But as the historic rivalry returned after a two-decade hiatus, England were failed to advance further against the reigning title holders.

"No excuses from us. We've had enough sessions to get it right on the pitch, and I don't think we've achieved that," Williams told.

"Australia deserve praise. They were excellent defensively. But we've got plenty to address. We're probably not as good as we thought we were entering this series.

"This serves as a necessary lesson for us, and [there is] loads to improve on."

The Kangaroos 'Arrive and Prove Ruthless'

Having been soundly beaten in an error-strewn display at Wembley, Wane side's were markedly enhanced on Saturday back in the core regions of England's north.

In an inspiring first half, the home side elicited errors from the Kangaroos and had superior positioning and ball control, but importantly did not convert opportunities on the points tally.

Significantly, the English team have now scored just a single touchdown over 160 minutes, with St Helens hooker the forward scoring late on in the loss in London.

In contrast, the Kangaroos have scored six across the series - and when errors began to creep into the hosts' play just after the half-time, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be heavily penalized.

Initially the playmaker went over, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being level at 4-4, the home side were 10 points adrift.

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

"The lapse for a brief period after half-time hurt us greatly. Munster's try was avoidable and should not be scored in a international fixture.

"The team is heartbroken. Extremely pleased the squad had a dig but very frustrated with that after half-time, which proved costly heavily."

Although the next World Cup in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under 12 months away, England's primary concern will be on attempting to regain respect, preventing a clean sweep and eradicating the mistakes that frustrated the coach.

"I hoped to see greater effort thrown at the opposition. I wanted us to maintain momentum in the game - we fell short last week," added the veteran coach.

"We managed this week. The issue is a lack of precision in our offense where we could have applied under more pressure. We need to defend both [tries] more effectively.

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

"The Australians will be obsessed to win 3-0 and we need to be obsessed to make it a competitive series. I've said that to the squad. It has to be our main aim. It will be a challenging week but the side that desires it the greatest will get the win next week."

Intensity Must to Increase in Domestic Competition

The English side have participated in a comparable number of international fixtures to the Kangaroos since the last World Cup in 2022.

Yet the coach thinks that the quality of the Australian league - and quality of the State of Origin matches between NSW and QLD - deliver a superior grounding for competing at the top of the global stage than what is on offer in the UK.

The England coach noted that the packed domestic league calendar allowed no time for him to train his squad during the campaign, which will only raise additional concerns around how the national team can narrow the difference to the Kangaroos before travelling to the Southern Hemisphere in the next World Cup.

"They play a lot of internationals in their league," Wane added.

"We play ten to fifteen a year. We need really intense games to enhance the competition and increase our chances of succeeding in these sorts of games.

"I couldn't even train with the players. There was no chance to got on the field in the campaign and despite having the complete support of everyone in Super League.

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