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In the words of leader the England captain, the national team were given a harsh "sobering lesson" as the Kangaroos won the Rugby League Ashes.

The Kangaroos' 14-4 victory at the Merseyside venue on Saturday gave them a commanding series edge, making next week's Headingley encounter a academic contest.

The England team had come into the series harbouring hopes of inflicting the Kangaroos to their maiden Ashes setback since 1970.

In the past two years, they had secured a clean sweep over the Tongan side and a success over Samoa. But as the Rugby League Ashes returned after a long break, England were failed to take the next step against the world champions.

"We take full responsibility. There were enough sessions to get it right on the field, and I don't think we've quite done that," Williams commented.

"Credit to Australia. They were strong defensively. But we've got loads to improve. We're probably not as prepared as we thought we were going into this series.

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

Australia 'Show Up and Prove Merciless'

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

During an energetic opening period, the home side elicited errors from the Australians and had superior positioning and possession, but crucially did not make it count on the scoreboard.

Significantly, the English team have now scored just a single touchdown over two full matches, with St Helens hooker the forward scoring late on in the defeat in London.

Conversely, Australia have scored half a dozen across the series - and when blunders 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 made to pay.

First Cameron Munster went over, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being tied at four-all, England were down by double digits.

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

"The drop in intensity for 10 minutes after the break hurt us greatly. The first try was soft and should not be scored in a Test match.

"The team is devastated. So proud the squad had a fight but so disappointed with that post-interval, which proved costly dearly."

While the next World Cup in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under a year from now, England's immediate focus will be on trying to regain respect, avoiding a series whitewash and eradicating the issues that frustrated Wane.

"I hoped to see more directed toward Australia. I wanted us to apply sustained attack in the game - we fell short last week," added the veteran coach.

"We did this week. It's just a bit of detail in our offense where we could have applied under increased strain. We need to stop each of [tries] with greater resolve.

"Fair play to Australia - that is not a criticism to them. They arrive and are merciless when they get a chance, and we weren't, but defensively we can and should do enhance.

"They will be obsessed to win the series whitewash and we need to be equally determined to make it 2-1. I've said that to the players. It has to be our primary goal. It's going to be a tough week but the side that wants it the most will emerge victorious next week."

Intensity Must to Improve in Domestic Competition

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

Yet Wane argues that the strength of the NRL - and level of the State of Origin matches between NSW and Queensland - deliver a much better foundation for competing at the top of the global stage than what is available in the Europe.

The England coach commented that the congested domestic league fixture list left no time for him to train his team during the campaign, which will only raise further questions around how England can bridge the gap to Australia before travelling to Oceania in the next World Cup.

"The Australians participate in a lot of internationals in their league," he stated.

"We play 10-15 a year. We need really intense games to enhance the competition and improve our prospects of succeeding in these types of matches.

"I couldn't even practice with the squad. We never got on the field in the season and despite having the total cooperation of all clubs in Super League.

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