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In the words of leader the England captain, the national team were handed a brutal "wake-up call" as Australia clinched the coveted Ashes trophy.

The Kangaroos' 14-4 victory at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday gave them a commanding series edge, making the upcoming sold-out third Test a academic contest.

The national squad had come into the series dreaming of sending Australia to their first Ashes series defeat since over five decades ago.

Over the last 24 months, they had enjoyed a dominant victory over Tonga and a 2-0 triumph over Samoa. But as the prestigious competition resumed after a two-decade hiatus, England were failed to advance further against the reigning title holders.

"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 commented.

"Australia deserve praise. They proved good defensively. But we've got a lot to address. We're probably not as prepared as we thought we were going into this series.

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

The Kangaroos 'Arrive and Are Ruthless'

After being soundly beaten in an error-strewn display at the national stadium, Wane side's were markedly enhanced on the weekend back in the core regions of the North.

During an energetic initial stages, England forced mistakes from the Kangaroos and had all the field position and possession, but unfortunately did not convert opportunities on the points tally.

Notably, the English team have now scored just a single touchdown over two full matches, with player Daryl Clark barging over late on in the defeat in London.

In contrast, the Kangaroos have accumulated half a dozen across the series - and when errors began to appear in the hosts' play just after the interval, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be made to pay.

Initially Cameron Munster went over, and then so too did the forward. From being tied at four-all, the home side were down by double digits.

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

"The lapse for a brief period after half-time damaged us greatly. Munster's try was avoidable and should not be scored in a international fixture.

"We're deeply disappointed. Extremely pleased the players had a go but very frustrated with that post-interval, which hurt us significantly."

Although the upcoming global tournament in the Southern Hemisphere is just under 12 months away, England's short-term goal will be on trying to restore some pride, preventing a series whitewash and addressing the issues that annoyed Wane.

"I wanted to see additional intensity directed toward 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. It's just a lack of precision in our offensive play where we could have put them under more pressure. We need to defend both [tries] better.

"Credit to Australia - that is not a criticism to them. They turn up and are clinical when they get a chance, and we weren't, but in defense we can and should do better.

"They will be obsessed to win the series whitewash and we need to be just as focused to make it 2-1. I've told that to the players. It has to be our obsession. It's going to be a tough week but the side that desires it the most will get the win next week."

Competitive Edge Must to Elevate in Super League

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

Yet Wane thinks that the quality of the Australian league - and standard of the State of Origin matches between NSW and QLD - offer a more effective grounding for performing at the top of the international game than what is available in the Europe.

Wane noted that the hectic domestic league fixture list left no time for him to train his team during the campaign, which will only pose further questions around how the national team can bridge the gap to Australia before heading to Oceania in the next World Cup.

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

"We play 10-15 a year. It's crucial highly competitive games to improve the domestic league and increase our chances of succeeding in these high-stakes fixtures.

"I couldn't even train with the squad. We never got on the field in the season and I had the complete support of everyone in Super League.

"I have also been in the shoes of the head coaches that need to win games. The competition is that packed. It's a pity but that's not the cause we got beaten today."