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According to captain George Williams, the national team were delivered a stark "sobering lesson" as Australia clinched the Rugby League Ashes.

Australia's 14-4 victory at the stadium in Liverpool on Saturday gave them a 2-0 series lead, making next week's sold-out third Test a meaningless fixture.

Shaun Wane's side had entered the series dreaming of inflicting the Kangaroos to their initial series loss since over five decades ago.

Recently, they had secured a dominant victory over Tonga and a success over Samoa. But as the prestigious competition returned after a long break, England were unable to advance further against the reigning title holders.

"We take full responsibility. We've had enough preparations to perform correctly on the field, and it's clear we've quite done that," the captain commented.

"Full marks to the Kangaroos. They were good in defense. But we've got plenty to improve. It seems not as prepared as we expected we were entering this series.

"So it's a necessary reality check for us, and [there is] loads to improve on."

Australia 'Show Up and Are Clinical'

Having been comprehensively defeated in an sloppy showing at the national stadium, Wane side's were much improved on the weekend back in the rugby league heartlands of England's north.

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

Notably, England have now managed just one try over 160 minutes, with player Daryl Clark scoring late on in the loss in London.

In contrast, the Kangaroos have scored half a dozen across the series - and when errors began to creep into the England's play just after the half-time, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be made to pay.

First the playmaker crossed, and then so too did the forward. From being level at 4-4, the home side were 10 points adrift.

"Proud for the majority of the game. In my view for 70 minutes we were competitive," said the coach.

"The drop in intensity for a brief period after half-time damaged us immensely. The first try was easy and should not be scored in a top-level game.

"We're devastated. Extremely pleased the players had a dig but very frustrated with that post-interval, which hurt us significantly."

Although the next World Cup in the Southern Hemisphere is just under a year from now, England's immediate focus will be on attempting to regain respect, avoiding a series whitewash and eradicating the mistakes that annoyed Wane.

"I hoped to see greater effort thrown at the opposition. I wanted us to maintain momentum in the game - we failed to deliver last week," added the veteran coach.

"We did this week. The issue is a lack of precision in our offensive play where we could have applied under increased strain. It's essential to stop each of [tries] better.

"Credit to the Kangaroos - that is no detriment to them. They arrive and are ruthless when they get a chance, and we weren't, but in defense we can and should do improve.

"They will be focused to win the series whitewash and we need to be obsessed to make it a competitive series. I've said that to the squad. It has to be our main aim. It's going to be a challenging week but the side that wants it the most will emerge victorious next week."

Competitive Edge Must to Improve in Domestic Competition

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

However the coach believes that the quality of the NRL - and quality of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and QLD - deliver a more effective preparation for performing at the top of the international game than what is available in the UK.

Wane commented that the congested domestic league calendar allowed little opportunity for him to train his team during the campaign, which will only raise additional concerns around how England can narrow the difference to the Kangaroos before travelling to the Southern Hemisphere in the next World Cup.

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

"England have ten to fifteen a year. We need really intense games to improve the competition and increase our chances of succeeding in these sorts of games.

"I couldn't even practice with the squad. There was no chance to trained together in the season and despite having the complete support of everyone in the domestic competition.

"I understand in the boots of the club managers that need to win games. The competition is that congested. It's unfortunate but it's not the cause we got beaten today."