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According to skipper the England captain, England were given a brutal "wake-up call" as Australia secured the Rugby League Ashes.

The Kangaroos' 14-4 triumph at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday gave them a 2-0 series lead, making next week's final match in Leeds 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.

In the past two years, they had enjoyed a 3-0 series win over the Tongan side and a 2-0 triumph over Samoa. But as the Rugby League Ashes returned after a long break, the English were unable to advance further against the top-ranked team.

"We're not making excuses. We've had enough sessions to perform correctly on the field, and it's clear we've quite done that," Williams stated.

"Australia deserve praise. They proved strong in defense. But there's a lot to improve. We're probably not as prepared as we believed we were entering this series.

"So it's a good reality check for us, and there is much to improve on."

The Kangaroos 'Arrive and Are Merciless'

Having been heavily outplayed in an sloppy showing at Wembley, England's were much improved on the weekend back in the traditional strongholds of northern England.

In an inspiring initial stages, the home side forced mistakes from the Kangaroos and had dominant territory and ball control, but unfortunately did not capitalize on the points tally.

Notably, the English team have now scored just one score over 160 minutes, with player the forward scoring late on in the defeat in the capital.

Conversely, Australia have scored half a dozen across the series - and when blunders began to creep into the hosts' play just after the half-time, it was a case of certainty, they were going to be heavily penalized.

First the playmaker crossed, and then so too did the forward. From being level at four-all, the home side were 10 points adrift.

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

"The switch off for a brief period after half-time damaged us severely. The first try was soft and should never happen in a top-level game.

"We're devastated. Extremely pleased the players had a dig but very frustrated with that after half-time, which cost us heavily."

While the next World Cup in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under next year, the team's primary concern will be on attempting to regain respect, avoiding a series whitewash and addressing the issues that frustrated the coach.

"I hoped to see more thrown at Australia. My aim was us to build pressure in the game - we failed to deliver last week," added the veteran coach.

"We managed this week. It's just a bit of detail in our attack where we could have put them under greater stress. We need to defend both [tries] better.

"Credit to Australia - that is no slight to them. They arrive and are merciless when they get a chance, and we failed to be, but defensively we must do enhance.

"The Australians will be determined to win all three Tests and we need to be equally determined to make it a respectable scoreline. I've said that to the squad. It has to be our primary goal. It's going to be a tough week but whoever desires it the greatest will emerge victorious next week."

Intensity Must to Increase in Domestic Competition

England have participated in a comparable number of Test matches to Australia since the previous global tournament in 2022.

Yet the coach thinks that the quality of the Australian league - and quality of the domestic rivalry matches between NSW and Queensland - offer a much better foundation for competing at the highest level of the global stage than what is on offer in the UK.

Wane noted that the congested domestic league fixture list left little opportunity for him to train his players during the season, which will only pose more issues around how England can bridge the gap to the Kangaroos before travelling to Oceania in the next World Cup.

"The Australians play a large number of Test matches in their league," Wane stated.

"We have ten to fifteen a year. It's crucial highly competitive games to boost the competition and boost our chances of succeeding in these sorts of games.

"It was impossible to even practice with the squad. There was no chance to got on the field in the season and I had the complete support of everyone in Super League.

"I understand in the boots of the head coaches that must to win games. The competition is that packed. It's a pity but it's not the reason we were defeated today."