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According to leader George Williams, the national team were delivered a brutal "sobering lesson" as the Kangaroos secured the Rugby League Ashes.

The Kangaroos' 14-4 triumph at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium on the weekend gave them a unassailable 2-0 advantage, making next week's sold-out third Test a academic contest.

Shaun Wane's side had come into the series holding aspirations of sending the Kangaroos to their maiden Ashes setback since over five decades ago.

Recently, they had enjoyed a dominant victory over the Tongan side and a 2-0 triumph over the Samoan team. But as the historic rivalry returned after a two-decade hiatus, England were failed to take the next step against the world champions.

"No excuses from us. There were enough training periods to perform correctly on the field, and it's clear we've managed that," Williams commented.

"Credit to Australia. They were strong defensively. But there's plenty to work on. It seems not as strong as we expected we were going into this series.

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

Australia 'Turn Up and Are Clinical'

Having been soundly beaten in an error-strewn display at the national stadium, Wane side's were markedly enhanced on the weekend back in the traditional strongholds of the North.

In a rousing initial stages, England caused turnovers from the Kangaroos and had all the field position and possession, but unfortunately did not capitalize on the scoreboard.

Notably, the English team have now scored just one score over 160 minutes, with St Helens hooker Daryl Clark scoring late on in the setback in London.

Conversely, Australia have accumulated half a dozen across the series - and when blunders began to creep into the England's play just after the interval, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be severely punished.

Initially Cameron Munster crossed, and then so too did the forward. From being level 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 competitive," said Wane.

"The switch off for a brief period after half-time hurt us greatly. Munster's try was soft and should not be scored in a top-level game.

"The team is heartbroken. Extremely pleased the players had a fight but very frustrated with that second-half lapse, which hurt us significantly."

Although the upcoming global tournament in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under next year, England's primary concern will be on attempting to restore some pride, avoiding a 3-0 sweep and addressing the errors that annoyed the coach.

"I wanted to see greater effort thrown at 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. It's just a lack of precision in our offensive play where we could have put them under greater stress. It's essential to defend both [tries] more effectively.

"Credit to the Kangaroos - that is no detriment to them. They perform and are ruthless when they capitalize, and we failed to be, but in defense we can and should do enhance.

"They will be determined to win all three Tests and we need to be just as focused to make it a competitive series. I've said that to the players. This must become our obsession. It's going to be a difficult week but the side that wants it the greatest will emerge victorious next week."

Competitive Edge Needs to Elevate in Domestic Competition

The English side have participated in a similar number of international fixtures to Australia since the last World Cup in recent years.

However Wane believes that the strength of the Australian league - and quality of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and QLD - offer a more effective grounding for performing at the highest level of the international game than what is available in the Europe.

Wane added that the packed domestic league fixture schedule allowed little opportunity for him to work with his squad during the season, which will only raise further questions around how the national team can close the divide to the Kangaroos before heading to Oceania in the next World Cup.

"They play a large number of internationals in their competition," Wane stated.

"We have ten to fifteen a year. We need highly competitive games to enhance the domestic league and boost our prospects of succeeding in these types of matches.

"It was impossible to even practice with the squad. We never trained together in the season and despite having the complete support of everyone in the domestic competition.

"I have also been in the boots of the club managers that must to win games. The league is that tight. It's a pity but that's not the reason we lost today."