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According to skipper George Williams, England were delivered a brutal "wake-up call" as the Kangaroos won the Rugby League Ashes.

Australia's decisive 14-4 win 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 academic contest.

The England team had entered the series dreaming of inflicting Australia to their first Ashes series defeat since 1970.

In the past two years, they had secured a clean sweep over the Tongan side and a 2-0 triumph over Samoa. But as the historic rivalry returned after a two-decade hiatus, the English were failed to advance further against the reigning title holders.

"We're not making excuses. There were enough sessions to execute properly on the pitch, and it's clear we've quite done that," the captain stated.

"Credit to Australia. They proved good in defense. But there's loads to improve. We're probably not as strong as we expected we were entering this series.

"This serves as a necessary lesson for us, and [there is] loads to improve on."

The Kangaroos 'Show Up and Prove Merciless'

After being comprehensively defeated in an error-strewn display at the national stadium, England's were markedly enhanced on Saturday back in the traditional strongholds of the North.

In an inspiring first half, the home side forced mistakes from the Kangaroos and had dominant territory and ball control, but unfortunately did not make it count on the scoreboard.

Notably, the English team have now managed just a single touchdown over 160 minutes, with player Daryl Clark powering through late on in the setback in the capital.

On the other hand, Australia 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 certainty, they were going to be heavily penalized.

Initially Cameron Munster crossed, and then so too did the forward. From being level at 4-4, England were trailing by 10.

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

"The lapse for 10 minutes after the break hurt us severely. Munster's try was easy and should not be scored in a top-level game.

"The team is deeply disappointed. Extremely pleased the squad had a fight but so disappointed with that after half-time, which proved costly significantly."

While the upcoming global tournament in the Southern Hemisphere is just under a year from now, the team's primary concern will be on attempting to salvage honor, avoiding a 3-0 sweep and addressing the errors that irritated Wane.

"I hoped to see more directed toward Australia. 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 offense where we could have put them under greater stress. It's essential to defend both [tries] better.

"Credit to Australia - that is no slight to them. They perform and are merciless when they get a chance, and we failed to be, but in defense we can and should do better.

"The Australians will be determined to win 3-0 and we need to be obsessed to make it a respectable scoreline. I've said that to the players. This must become our main aim. It's going to be a challenging week but whoever desires it the most will secure victory next week."

Intensity Must to Increase in Domestic Competition

The English side have played a comparable number of Test matches to Australia since the last World Cup in recent years.

Yet the coach thinks that the strength of the Australian league - and standard of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and Queensland - provide a much better grounding for performing at the top of the global stage than what is on offer in the northern hemisphere.

Wane added that the congested Super League fixture schedule left little opportunity for him to work with his team during the campaign, which will only raise more issues around how the national team can bridge the gap to the Kangaroos before travelling to the Southern Hemisphere in 2026.

"They play a large number of Test matches in their league," he stated.

"We play ten to fifteen a year. It's crucial highly competitive games to boost the competition and improve our prospects of winning these sorts of games.

"It was impossible to even practice with the squad. We never got on the field in the season and despite having the full backing of all clubs in the domestic competition.

"I have also been in the shoes of the head coaches that must to win games. The league is that packed. It's a pity but it's not the reason we were defeated today."