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In the words of skipper the England captain, England were given a stark "reality check" as Australia won the coveted Ashes trophy.

The Kangaroos' decisive 14-4 win at the Merseyside venue on Saturday gave them a unassailable 2-0 advantage, making the upcoming Headingley encounter a dead rubber.

Shaun Wane's side had entered the series harbouring hopes of sending the Kangaroos to their maiden Ashes setback since 1970.

Recently, they had achieved a 3-0 series win over Tonga and a 2-0 triumph over the Samoan team. But as the historic rivalry returned after a long break, England were unable to take the next step against the world champions.

"We're not making excuses. We've had enough preparations to perform correctly on the pitch, and it's clear we've quite done that," Williams stated.

"Credit to Australia. They were strong defensively. But there's a lot to improve. It seems not as good as we believed we were entering this series.

"This serves as a necessary wake-up call for us, and there is much to improve on."

The Kangaroos 'Turn Up and Prove Clinical'

Having been soundly beaten in an sloppy showing at Wembley, Wane side's were much improved on Saturday back in the rugby league heartlands of northern England.

In an inspiring opening period, England caused turnovers from the Kangaroos and had superior positioning and ball control, but unfortunately did not capitalize on the points tally.

Significantly, England have now scored just one score over two full matches, with St Helens hooker the forward powering through late on in the loss in London.

On the other hand, the Kangaroos have accumulated six so far - and when mistakes began to appear in the England's play just after the interval, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be severely punished.

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

"Proud for the bulk of the game. I thought for most of the match we were competitive," said the coach.

"The lapse for 10 minutes after half-time hurt us immensely. Munster's try was soft and should never happen in a international fixture.

"We're heartbroken. Extremely pleased the squad had a fight but so disappointed with that post-interval, which hurt us dearly."

While the upcoming global tournament in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under 12 months away, the team's short-term goal will be on trying to restore some pride, avoiding a series whitewash and eradicating the mistakes that annoyed Wane.

"I hoped to see additional intensity directed toward the opposition. 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 lack of precision in our offensive play where we could have put them under more pressure. It's essential to stop each of [tries] with greater resolve.

"Credit to Australia - that is no slight to them. They turn up and are merciless when they seize opportunities, and we failed to be, but defensively we can and should do enhance.

"They will be determined to win the series whitewash and we need to be obsessed to make it 2-1. I've said that to the players. This must become our primary goal. It's going to be a challenging week but whoever strives for it the most will emerge victorious next week."

Intensity Needs to Elevate in Super League

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

However Wane believes that the caliber of the NRL - and quality of the State of Origin matches between NSW and QLD - provide a superior preparation for performing at the top of the global stage than what is available in the northern hemisphere.

The England coach added that the congested Super League calendar left no time for him to train his squad during the season, which will only raise further questions around how the national team can bridge the gap to Australia before travelling to Oceania in the next World Cup.

"The Australians participate in a large number of internationals in their competition," he added.

"England have ten to fifteen a year. We need demanding games to enhance the domestic league and boost our chances of winning these high-stakes fixtures.

"I couldn't even practice with the players. We never trained together in the campaign and I had the full backing of everyone in the domestic competition.

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