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In the words of skipper the England captain, the national team were delivered a stark "wake-up call" as Australia won the coveted Ashes trophy.

The Kangaroos' decisive 14-4 win at the stadium in Liverpool on Saturday gave them a unassailable 2-0 advantage, making the upcoming final match in Leeds a dead rubber.

The England team had entered the series holding aspirations of inflicting Australia to their maiden Ashes setback since over five decades ago.

Over the last 24 months, they had secured a clean sweep over the Tongan side 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 world champions.

"No excuses from us. There were enough preparations to perform correctly on the field, and it's clear we've managed that," Williams stated.

"Full marks to the Kangaroos. They proved good defensively. But we've got a lot to work on. We're probably not as prepared as we believed we were going into this series.

"So it's a good lesson for us, and there is much to enhance."

Australia 'Arrive and Prove Clinical'

Having been heavily outplayed in an sloppy showing at the national stadium, England's were markedly enhanced on Saturday back in the core regions of northern England.

In a rousing opening period, the home side forced mistakes from the Australians and had all the field position and possession, but crucially did not capitalize on the scoreboard.

Tellingly, England have now managed just a single touchdown over 160 minutes, with St Helens hooker Daryl Clark barging over late on in the defeat in the capital.

Conversely, Australia have racked up six in two games - and when errors began to affect the England's play just after the interval, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be severely punished.

Initially Cameron Munster crossed, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being tied at 4-4, England were 10 points adrift.

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

"The switch off for a brief period after half-time damaged us severely. Munster's try was soft and should not be scored in a top-level game.

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

Although the upcoming global tournament in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under a year from now, the team's primary concern will be on attempting to restore some pride, avoiding a 3-0 sweep and eradicating the mistakes that frustrated Wane.

"I hoped to see additional intensity thrown at the opposition. My aim was us to maintain momentum in the game - we failed to deliver last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We did this week. It's just a bit of detail in our offense where we could have put them under more pressure. We need to stop each of [tries] with greater resolve.

"Fair play to the Kangaroos - that is no detriment to them. They turn up and are clinical when they capitalize, and we failed to be, but in defense we must do improve.

"They will be determined to win 3-0 and we need to be equally determined to make it 2-1. I've said that to the players. This must become our main aim. It will be a difficult week but whoever strives for it the greatest will get the win next week."

Intensity Needs to Increase in Domestic Competition

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

Yet the coach thinks that the caliber of the NRL - and quality of the domestic rivalry matches between New South Wales and QLD - deliver a superior grounding for performing at the highest level of the international game than what is available in the northern hemisphere.

Wane commented that the congested Super League fixture list allowed little opportunity for him to coach his squad during the campaign, which will only raise further questions around how England can narrow the difference to Australia before travelling to Oceania in 2026.

"The Australians play a large number of Test matches in their competition," he remarked.

"We have ten to fifteen a year. It's crucial really intense games to boost the competition and improve our prospects of succeeding in these sorts of games.

"It was impossible to even practice with the players. We never trained together in the season and I had the total cooperation of all clubs in the domestic competition.

"I have also been in the position of the club managers that need to win games. The league is that tight. It's a pity but it's not the reason we lost today."