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According to skipper the England captain, the national team were given a stark "reality check" as Australia secured the Rugby League Ashes.

Australia's 14-4 victory at the Merseyside venue on Saturday gave them a commanding series edge, making next week's final match in Leeds a meaningless fixture.

The England team had entered the series holding aspirations of sending Australia to their initial series loss since 1970.

Recently, they had enjoyed a dominant victory over Tonga and a 2-0 triumph over the Samoan team. But as the Rugby League Ashes returned after a two-decade hiatus, the English were unable to make the leap against the world champions.

"No excuses from us. There were enough training periods to execute properly on the pitch, and it's clear we've quite done that," Williams told.

"Australia deserve praise. They were strong in defense. But we've got loads to improve. It seems not as good as we thought we were entering this series.

"So it's a good lesson for us, and [there is] loads to improve on."

The Kangaroos 'Turn Up and Are Clinical'

Having been soundly beaten in an error-strewn display at Wembley, England's were much improved on the weekend back in the traditional strongholds of England's north.

During an energetic initial stages, the home side elicited errors from the Kangaroos and had superior positioning and possession, but crucially did not capitalize on the scoreboard.

Tellingly, England have now scored just one try over two full matches, with St Helens hooker the forward barging over late on in the defeat in the capital.

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

Initially the playmaker scored, and then so too did the forward. From being level at 4-4, the home side were trailing by 10.

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

"The lapse for 10 minutes after the break hurt us immensely. Munster's try was easy and should never happen in a Test match.

"The team is deeply disappointed. So proud the squad had a dig but so disappointed with that second-half lapse, which proved costly dearly."

While the upcoming global tournament in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under a year from now, England's short-term goal will be on trying to restore some pride, preventing a clean sweep and eliminating the issues that frustrated the coach.

"I wanted to see more directed toward the opposition. I wanted us to build pressure in the game - we fell short last week," added the veteran coach.

"We did this week. It's just a bit of detail in our offensive play where we could have applied under greater stress. We need to stop each of [tries] with greater resolve.

"Fair play to the Kangaroos - that is not a criticism to them. They arrive and are clinical when they capitalize, and we weren't, but in defense we can and should do enhance.

"The Australians will be focused to win the series whitewash and we need to be just as focused to make it 2-1. I've told that to the players. It has to be our main aim. It will be a difficult week but whoever strives for it the greatest will emerge victorious next week."

Intensity Needs to Improve in Domestic Competition

The English side have played a similar number of Test matches to Australia since the last World Cup in 2022.

Yet the coach argues that the caliber of the NRL - and standard of the domestic rivalry matches between NSW and Queensland - deliver a much better preparation for competing at the highest level of the global stage than what is available in the Europe.

Wane added that the hectic domestic league calendar left no time for him to work with his team during the campaign, which will only raise more issues around how the national team can close the divide to the Kangaroos before travelling to Oceania in 2026.

"The Australians play a large number of internationals in their league," he added.

"England have 10-15 a year. It's crucial demanding games to improve the domestic league and boost our prospects of winning these high-stakes fixtures.

"I couldn't even train with the players. There was no chance to got on the field in the campaign and I had the total cooperation of everyone 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 unfortunate but it's not the reason we got beaten today."