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As stated by captain the England captain, England were delivered a brutal "reality check" as Australia secured the coveted Ashes trophy.

The Kangaroos' 14-4 victory at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium on the weekend 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 inflicting the Kangaroos to their initial series loss since over five decades ago.

Recently, they had enjoyed a clean sweep over Tonga and a 2-0 triumph over Samoa. But as the Rugby League Ashes resumed after a two-decade hiatus, the English were unable to take the next step against the top-ranked team.

"We take full responsibility. There were enough training periods to perform correctly on the pitch, and it's clear we've managed that," Williams told.

"Credit to Australia. They were good defensively. But there's a lot to address. We're probably not as strong as we believed we were entering this series.

"This serves as a good lesson for us, and we have plenty to develop."

The Kangaroos 'Show Up and Prove Merciless'

Having been soundly beaten in an sloppy showing at Wembley, England's were markedly enhanced on Saturday back in the rugby league heartlands of England's north.

In a rousing opening period, England forced mistakes from the Australians and had dominant territory and ball control, but unfortunately did not convert opportunities on the points tally.

Notably, the English team have now scored just a single touchdown over two full matches, with St Helens hooker Daryl Clark barging over late on in the defeat in London.

On the other hand, the Kangaroos have racked up half a dozen across the series - and when errors began to appear in the hosts' play just after the break, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be heavily penalized.

First Cameron Munster went over, and then so too did the forward. From being level at four-all, the home side were trailing by 10.

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

"The switch off for 10 minutes after the break damaged us immensely. Munster's try was easy and should never happen in a top-level game.

"The team is devastated. Extremely pleased the squad had a go but so disappointed with that second-half lapse, which hurt us heavily."

While the next World Cup in Oceania is just under 12 months away, the team's immediate focus will be on trying to salvage honor, avoiding a 3-0 sweep and eliminating the mistakes that annoyed Wane.

"I wanted to see more thrown at Australia. I wanted us to build pressure in the game - we fell short last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We did this week. The issue is a lack of precision in our attack where we could have applied under greater stress. We need to stop each of [tries] more effectively.

"Fair play to Australia - that is not a criticism to them. They arrive and are merciless when they get a chance, and we weren't, but in defense we must do enhance.

"They will be determined to win the series whitewash and we need to be equally determined to make it 2-1. I've told that to the players. It has to be our primary goal. It's going to be a tough week but whoever strives for it the most will secure victory next week."

Competitive Edge Must to Elevate in Domestic Competition

The English side have played a comparable number of international fixtures to Australia since the previous global tournament in 2022.

Yet the coach believes that the caliber of the NRL - and standard of the domestic rivalry matches between New South Wales and QLD - deliver a more effective foundation for competing at the highest level of the global stage than what is available in the UK.

Wane noted that the packed domestic league calendar left little opportunity for him to coach his squad during the campaign, which will only raise additional concerns around how the national team can narrow the difference to the Kangaroos before heading to the Southern Hemisphere in 2026.

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

"England have 10-15 a year. We need really intense games to improve the competition and boost our chances of succeeding in these types of matches.

"It was impossible to even practice with the squad. We never got on the field in the campaign and despite having the total cooperation of all clubs in Super League.

"I understand in the shoes of the club managers that must to win games. The competition is that packed. It's unfortunate but it's not the cause we lost today."