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As stated by skipper the England captain, England were handed a stark "sobering lesson" as the Kangaroos secured the prestigious series.

The Kangaroos' decisive 14-4 win at the stadium in Liverpool on Saturday gave them a commanding series edge, making the upcoming Headingley encounter a academic contest.

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

In the past two years, they had achieved a dominant victory over the Tongan side and a series win over the Samoan team. But as the historic rivalry returned after a two-decade hiatus, England were unable to take the next step against the reigning title holders.

"We're not making excuses. There were enough sessions to perform correctly on the field, and I don't think we've managed that," Williams commented.

"Full marks to the Kangaroos. They were strong defensively. But we've got plenty to address. It seems not as prepared as we thought we were entering this series.

"So it's a good wake-up call for us, and [there is] loads to enhance."

Australia 'Turn Up and Prove Clinical'

After being heavily outplayed in an sloppy showing at the national stadium, Wane side's were significantly better on the weekend back in the traditional strongholds of northern England.

During an energetic opening period, the home side forced mistakes 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 managed just one score over 160 minutes, with player Daryl Clark powering through late on in the setback in the capital.

Conversely, Australia have scored six in two games - and when blunders began to creep into the England's play just after the half-time, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be severely punished.

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

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

"The lapse for 10 minutes after the break damaged us severely. Munster's try was soft and should not be scored in a Test match.

"The team is devastated. Extremely pleased the players had a fight but very frustrated with that second-half lapse, which proved costly dearly."

Although the next World Cup in Oceania is just under a year from now, England's immediate focus will be on attempting to regain respect, avoiding a clean sweep and addressing the mistakes that irritated the coach.

"I wanted to see greater effort thrown at the opposition. I wanted us to build pressure in the game - we failed to deliver last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We managed this week. The issue is a minor refinements in our attack where we could have put them under more pressure. We need to defend both [tries] with greater resolve.

"Credit to Australia - that is no slight to them. They perform and are ruthless when they seize opportunities, and we failed to be, but defensively we can and should do improve.

"The Australians will be focused to win the series whitewash and we need to be obsessed to make it 2-1. I've said that to the players. It has to be our main aim. It will be a challenging week but the side that wants it the greatest will emerge victorious next week."

Competitive Edge Needs to Elevate in Super League

England have played a comparable number of Test matches to the Kangaroos since the previous global tournament in recent years.

Yet Wane believes that the strength of the NRL - and quality of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and QLD - offer a much better grounding for competing at the top of the global stage than what is on offer in the UK.

The England coach noted that the congested domestic league fixture schedule allowed little opportunity for him to work with his team during the season, which will only raise additional concerns around how England can close the divide to the Kangaroos before heading to Oceania in the next World Cup.

"They participate in a lot of Test matches in their league," he remarked.

"England have ten to fifteen a year. It's crucial really intense games to improve the competition and improve our prospects of succeeding in these types of matches.

"It was impossible to even train with the squad. We never got on the field in the season and despite having the complete support of all clubs in Super League.

"I understand in the position of the head coaches that need to win games. The league is that tight. It's unfortunate but it's not the reason we got beaten today."