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As stated by leader the England captain, the national team were given a harsh "reality check" as Australia secured the Rugby League Ashes.

The Kangaroos' decisive 14-4 win at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday gave them a commanding series edge, making next week's Headingley encounter a academic contest.

Shaun Wane's side had come into the series holding aspirations of sending Australia to their initial series loss since the 1970s.

Over the last 24 months, they had achieved a dominant victory over Tonga and a 2-0 triumph over Samoa. But as the Rugby League Ashes resumed after a two-decade hiatus, England were unable to make the leap against the top-ranked team.

"We take full responsibility. We've had enough preparations to perform correctly on the pitch, and I don't think we've achieved that," Williams told.

"Credit to Australia. They were good in defense. But we've got loads to work on. We're probably not as good as we thought we were entering this series.

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

The Kangaroos 'Show Up and Prove Merciless'

Having been heavily outplayed in an error-strewn display at the national stadium, Wane side's were much improved on the weekend back in the rugby league heartlands of England's north.

In an inspiring initial stages, England forced mistakes from the Kangaroos and had all the field position and ball control, but importantly did not capitalize on the scoreboard.

Notably, the English team have now managed just one try over the series so far, with St Helens hooker the forward scoring late on in the setback in London.

In contrast, the Kangaroos have accumulated six across the series - and when errors began to appear in the England's play just after the half-time, it was a case of certainty, they were going to be heavily penalized.

Initially the playmaker scored, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being level at 4-4, England were down by double digits.

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

"The lapse for a brief period after half-time cost us immensely. The first try was easy and should never happen in a Test match.

"The team is devastated. Extremely pleased the squad had a go but very frustrated with that after half-time, which proved costly dearly."

While the next World Cup in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under next year, the team's immediate focus will be on attempting to regain respect, avoiding a 3-0 sweep and eliminating the mistakes that irritated the coach.

"I wanted to see greater effort directed toward Australia. My aim was us to apply sustained attack in the game - we failed to deliver last week," added the veteran coach.

"We managed this week. The issue is a minor refinements in our offense where we could have put them under increased strain. It's essential to stop each of [tries] better.

"Fair play to Australia - that is no detriment to them. They arrive and are ruthless when they seize opportunities, and we weren't, but defensively we can and should do enhance.

"They will be focused to win all three Tests and we need to be equally determined to make it a respectable scoreline. I've told that to the players. It has to be our main aim. It will be a tough week but whoever desires it the most will emerge victorious next week."

Competitive Edge Must to Improve in Domestic Competition

England have participated in a comparable number of Test matches to the Kangaroos since the previous global tournament in 2022.

Yet Wane argues that the strength of the Australian league - and standard of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and Queensland - offer a much better grounding for performing at the highest level of the global stage than what is on offer in the UK.

Wane commented that the hectic Super League calendar allowed little opportunity for him to coach his team during the season, which will only raise more issues around how the national team can narrow the difference to Australia before heading to Oceania in 2026.

"The Australians participate in a large number of Test matches in their league," Wane added.

"We play ten to fifteen a year. We need demanding games to enhance the competition and improve our chances of winning these types of matches.

"It was impossible to even practice with the players. We never got on the field in the campaign and I had the full backing of everyone in the domestic competition.

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