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As stated by captain the England captain, England were handed a harsh "sobering lesson" as Australia clinched the coveted Ashes trophy.

Australia's decisive 14-4 win at the stadium in Liverpool on Saturday gave them a commanding series edge, making the upcoming sold-out third Test a academic contest.

Shaun Wane's side had entered the series dreaming of sending the Kangaroos to their first Ashes series defeat since the 1970s.

Recently, they had enjoyed a 3-0 series win over the Tongan side and a 2-0 triumph over Samoa. But as the historic rivalry resumed after a 22-year absence, England were unable to take the next step against the world champions.

"We take full responsibility. We've had enough training periods to get it right on the field, and I don't think we've managed that," Williams told.

"Australia deserve praise. They were good defensively. But we've got a lot to work on. It seems not as strong as we thought we were going into this series.

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

Australia 'Show Up and Prove Merciless'

Having been soundly beaten in an mistake-ridden performance at Wembley, England's were much improved on the weekend back in the core regions of England's north.

In a rousing opening period, the home side forced mistakes from the Australians and had dominant territory and possession, but crucially did not capitalize on the scoreboard.

Tellingly, the English team have now scored just one score over two full matches, with player the forward powering through late on in the setback in London.

Conversely, Australia have scored half a dozen so far - and when mistakes began to creep into the hosts' play just after the half-time, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be heavily penalized.

Initially Cameron Munster crossed, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being tied at four-all, England were 10 points adrift.

"Satisfied for the bulk of the game. In my view for 70 minutes we were good," said the coach.

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

"The team is deeply disappointed. Extremely pleased the players had a go but very frustrated with that post-interval, which hurt us heavily."

While the next World Cup in Oceania is just under a year from now, the team's primary concern will be on attempting to regain respect, preventing a 3-0 sweep and addressing the issues that annoyed the coach.

"I hoped to see greater effort thrown at Australia. I wanted us to build pressure in the game - we didn't do that last week," added the veteran coach.

"We did this week. The issue is a bit of detail in our offense where we could have put them under increased strain. It's essential to defend both [tries] better.

"Credit to Australia - that is not a criticism to them. They arrive and are merciless when they seize opportunities, and we weren't, but in defense we can and should do improve.

"The Australians will be determined to win the series whitewash and we need to be obsessed to make it a competitive series. I've told that to the squad. This must become our main aim. It will be a tough week but whoever wants it the greatest will get the win next week."

Intensity Must to Increase in Super League

England have played a comparable number of Test matches to the Kangaroos since the last World Cup in recent years.

However Wane thinks that the quality of the Australian league - and standard of the State of Origin matches between NSW and Queensland - offer a superior foundation for competing at the top of the global stage than what is available in the UK.

Wane noted that the hectic domestic league calendar left little opportunity for him to coach his team during the campaign, which will only pose more issues around how the national team can close the divide to the Kangaroos before heading to Oceania in 2026.

"The Australians play a lot of Test matches in their league," he remarked.

"We have 10-15 a year. It's crucial really intense games to boost the domestic league and improve our chances of succeeding in these types of matches.

"It was impossible to even train with the players. We never got on the field in the campaign and I had the complete support of everyone in Super League.

"I understand in the position of the club managers that need to win games. The league is that tight. It's unfortunate but it's not the cause we were defeated today."