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In the words of skipper George Williams, the national team were given a brutal "sobering lesson" as Australia clinched the Rugby League Ashes.

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

The national squad had entered the series holding aspirations of sending the Kangaroos to their maiden Ashes setback since the 1970s.

Recently, they had enjoyed a clean sweep over Tonga and a 2-0 triumph over Samoa. But as the prestigious competition returned after a 22-year absence, England were unable to make the leap against the top-ranked team.

"We're not making excuses. There were enough training periods to get it right on the pitch, and it's clear we've managed that," the captain commented.

"Credit to Australia. They proved excellent defensively. But there's loads to address. It seems not as strong as we expected we were entering this series.

"This serves as a good wake-up call for us, and there is much to enhance."

The Kangaroos 'Arrive and Prove Ruthless'

After being soundly beaten in an sloppy showing at the national stadium, England's were much improved on the weekend back in the rugby league heartlands of northern England.

In an inspiring initial stages, the home side caused turnovers from the Australians and had all the field position and ball control, but unfortunately did not convert opportunities on the scoreboard.

Significantly, England have now scored just a single touchdown over 160 minutes, with player Daryl Clark barging over late on in the loss in London.

In contrast, the Kangaroos have scored half a dozen so far - and when mistakes began to appear in the England's play just after the break, it was a case of certainty, they were going to be heavily penalized.

Initially Cameron Munster scored, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being level at 4-4, England were 10 points adrift.

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

"The lapse for 10 minutes after the break cost us severely. Munster's try was avoidable and should never happen in a top-level game.

"The team is devastated. So proud the squad had a fight but very frustrated with that post-interval, which proved costly dearly."

Although the upcoming global tournament in the Southern Hemisphere is just under a year from now, England's immediate focus will be on attempting to regain respect, preventing a 3-0 sweep and addressing the mistakes that annoyed the coach.

"I hoped to see greater effort thrown at the opposition. I wanted us to apply sustained attack in the game - we didn't do that last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We managed this week. It's just a lack of precision in our attack where we could have put them under more pressure. It's essential to stop each of [tries] with greater resolve.

"Credit to the Kangaroos - that is no detriment to them. They arrive and are ruthless when they capitalize, and we weren't, but in defense we must do better.

"The Australians will be obsessed to win all three Tests and we need to be obsessed to make it a competitive series. I've told that to the squad. It has to be our main aim. It will be a tough week but whoever wants it the most will emerge victorious next week."

Competitive Edge Must to Increase in Super League

The English side have participated in a similar number of international fixtures to Australia since the last World Cup in recent years.

Yet the coach believes that the caliber of the Australian league - and level of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and QLD - offer a more effective foundation for performing at the top of the global stage than what is available in the Europe.

The England coach added that the congested Super League fixture schedule allowed little opportunity for him to train his team during the campaign, which will only raise additional concerns around how England can bridge the gap to the Kangaroos before travelling to Oceania in 2026.

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

"England play 10-15 a year. We need demanding games to improve the competition and boost our prospects of winning these sorts of games.

"I couldn't even practice with the players. We never got on the field in the campaign and I had the total cooperation of everyone in Super League.

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