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In the words of captain George Williams, England were given a harsh "wake-up call" as Australia clinched the coveted Ashes trophy.

The Kangaroos' 14-4 victory at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium on the weekend gave them a 2-0 series lead, making the upcoming Headingley encounter a dead rubber.

The national squad had come into the series dreaming of inflicting the Kangaroos to their maiden Ashes setback since 1970.

In the past two years, they had secured a 3-0 series win over Tonga and a series win over Samoa. But as the historic rivalry resumed after a two-decade hiatus, the English were failed to take the next step against the reigning title holders.

"We take full responsibility. We've had enough sessions to execute properly on the field, and I don't think we've achieved that," the captain commented.

"Australia deserve praise. They proved excellent defensively. But there's plenty to address. It seems not as prepared as we thought we were going into this series.

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

The Kangaroos 'Turn Up and Prove Merciless'

Having been heavily outplayed in an error-strewn display at Wembley, England's were significantly better on the weekend back in the traditional strongholds of England's north.

During an energetic initial stages, the home side elicited errors from the Kangaroos and had all the field position and ball control, but importantly did not convert opportunities on the scoreboard.

Notably, the English team have now scored just one score over 160 minutes, with St Helens hooker Daryl Clark powering through late on in the defeat in the capital.

Conversely, Australia have scored six in two games - and when blunders began to affect the England's play just after the half-time, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be heavily penalized.

First Cameron Munster crossed, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being tied at four-all, England were 10 points adrift.

"Satisfied for the bulk of the game. I thought for 70 minutes we were competitive," said Wane.

"The drop in intensity for 10 minutes after half-time cost us greatly. The first try was avoidable and should never happen in a Test match.

"The team is devastated. So proud the players had a dig but very frustrated with that after half-time, which hurt us heavily."

Although the next World Cup in Oceania is just under a year from now, England's short-term goal will be on trying to restore some pride, preventing a 3-0 sweep and eliminating the errors that frustrated Wane.

"I hoped to see greater effort directed toward Australia. I wanted us to apply sustained attack in the game - we didn't do that last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We managed this week. The issue is a lack of precision in our offensive play where we could have applied under increased strain. It's essential to defend both [tries] with greater resolve.

"Fair play to the Kangaroos - that is no slight to them. They arrive and are merciless when they get a chance, and we weren't, but defensively we can and should do enhance.

"The Australians will be determined to win all three Tests and we need to be equally determined to make it a respectable scoreline. I've said that to the squad. This must become our obsession. It will be a tough week but whoever wants it the greatest will get the win next week."

Competitive Edge Needs to Elevate in Domestic Competition

England have played a similar number of Test matches to the Kangaroos since the last World Cup in 2022.

Yet Wane argues that the caliber of the NRL - and standard of the domestic rivalry matches between New South Wales and Queensland - offer a much better grounding for performing at the highest level of the international game than what is on offer in the northern hemisphere.

Wane added that the packed domestic league fixture list left no time for him to work with his players during the season, which will only raise further questions around how England can bridge the gap to the Kangaroos before heading to the Southern Hemisphere in the next World Cup.

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

"We have 10-15 a year. We need really intense games to enhance the domestic league and improve our prospects of succeeding in these sorts of games.

"It was impossible to even train with the squad. There was no chance to trained together in the campaign and I had the complete support of all clubs in Super League.

"I have also been in the position of the head coaches that must to win games. The league is that packed. It's unfortunate but that's not the reason we were defeated today."