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According to leader the England captain, the national team were handed a brutal "sobering lesson" as Australia won the prestigious series.

The Kangaroos' 14-4 triumph at the stadium in Liverpool on Saturday gave them a commanding series edge, making the upcoming final match in Leeds a dead rubber.

Shaun Wane's side had entered the series dreaming of inflicting the Kangaroos to their first Ashes series defeat since the 1970s.

Over the last 24 months, they had secured a dominant victory over the Tongan side and a 2-0 triumph over the Samoan team. But as the prestigious competition resumed after a two-decade hiatus, 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 get it right on the pitch, and I don't think we've quite done that," Williams stated.

"Credit to Australia. They were good defensively. But there's a lot to work on. We're probably not as good as we thought we were going into this series.

"So it's a necessary wake-up call for us, and there is much to enhance."

The Kangaroos 'Turn Up and Prove Clinical'

After being comprehensively defeated in an mistake-ridden performance at the national stadium, Wane side's were markedly enhanced on Saturday back in the rugby league heartlands of northern England.

During an energetic opening period, the home side elicited errors from the Kangaroos and had superior positioning and possession, but unfortunately did not make it count on the points tally.

Tellingly, England have now managed just one try over 160 minutes, with St Helens hooker the forward powering through late on in the setback in the capital.

On the other hand, the Kangaroos have racked up six in two games - and when blunders began to creep into the England's play just after the interval, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be severely punished.

Initially the playmaker scored, and then so too did the forward. From being tied at 4-4, England were 10 points adrift.

"Satisfied for the majority of the game. I thought for most of the match we were competitive," said the coach.

"The lapse for 10 minutes after half-time cost us greatly. Munster's try was soft and should never happen in a Test match.

"We're devastated. So proud the squad had a fight but so disappointed with that post-interval, which hurt us heavily."

Although the upcoming global tournament in the Southern Hemisphere is just under a year from now, the team's immediate focus will be on attempting to regain respect, preventing a series whitewash and addressing the issues that irritated the coach.

"I hoped to see additional intensity directed toward the opposition. My aim was us to apply sustained attack in the game - we didn't do that last week," added the veteran coach.

"We managed this week. It's just a lack of precision in our offense where we could have applied under greater stress. We need to defend both [tries] better.

"Fair play to the Kangaroos - that is no detriment to them. They perform and are clinical when they capitalize, and we failed to be, but defensively we must do enhance.

"They will be obsessed to win the series whitewash and we need to be equally determined to make it a competitive series. I've told that to the players. This must become our primary goal. It's going to be a difficult week but whoever strives for it the most will get the win next week."

Competitive Edge Needs to Improve in Super League

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

Yet the coach thinks that the caliber of the Australian league - and standard of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and Queensland - deliver a much better preparation for performing at the highest level of the international game than what is available in the northern hemisphere.

Wane noted that the hectic domestic league calendar 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 the next World Cup.

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

"England have 10-15 a year. It's crucial really intense games to enhance the domestic league and increase our chances of winning these types of matches.

"It was impossible to even practice with the squad. There was no chance to trained together in the season and I had the full backing of all clubs in the domestic competition.

"I have also been in the position of the head coaches that must to win games. The competition is that packed. It's a pity but it's not the cause we lost today."