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In the words of skipper the England captain, the national team were handed a brutal "reality check" as Australia won the coveted Ashes trophy.

Australia's 14-4 victory at the Merseyside venue on the weekend gave them a 2-0 series lead, making the upcoming sold-out third Test a dead rubber.

The England team had come into the series dreaming of inflicting Australia to their first Ashes series defeat since over five decades ago.

In the past two years, they had secured a dominant victory over Tonga and a series win over Samoa. But as the historic rivalry returned after a 22-year absence, England were unable to make the leap against the reigning title holders.

"We take full responsibility. We've had enough preparations to perform correctly on the field, and it's clear we've quite done that," Williams stated.

"Full marks to the Kangaroos. They proved excellent in defense. But there's loads to address. It seems not as prepared as we believed we were going into this series.

"This serves as a necessary reality check for us, and [there is] loads to enhance."

The Kangaroos 'Turn Up and Are Ruthless'

Having been heavily outplayed in an sloppy showing at Wembley, Wane side's were much improved on Saturday back in the rugby league heartlands of northern England.

During an energetic first half, England caused turnovers from the Australians and had dominant territory and ball control, but crucially did not capitalize on the scoreboard.

Significantly, England have now managed just one score over the series so far, with St Helens hooker Daryl Clark powering through late on in the defeat in London.

On the other hand, Australia have scored six in two games - and when errors began to creep into the England's play just after the interval, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be severely punished.

First the playmaker crossed, and then so too did the forward. From being tied at 4-4, the home side were trailing by 10.

"Proud for the bulk of the game. I thought for most of the match we were competitive," said the coach.

"The lapse for a brief period after the break cost us immensely. Munster's try was easy and should not be scored in a top-level game.

"The team is heartbroken. Extremely pleased the players had a dig but very frustrated with that post-interval, which proved costly heavily."

Although the next World Cup in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under 12 months away, the team's short-term goal will be on attempting to restore some pride, preventing a series whitewash and eradicating the mistakes that annoyed Wane.

"I hoped to see additional intensity directed toward Australia. My aim was us to maintain momentum in the game - we failed to deliver last week," added the 61-year-old.

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

"Fair play to the Kangaroos - that is no detriment to them. They arrive and are clinical when they get a chance, and we failed to be, but defensively we must do enhance.

"The Australians will be obsessed to win all three Tests and we need to be just as focused to make it 2-1. I've told that to the players. This must become our main aim. It will be a difficult week but the side that desires it the greatest will emerge victorious next week."

Competitive Edge Needs to Improve in Domestic Competition

England have participated in a similar number of Test matches to the Kangaroos since the last World Cup in recent years.

Yet the coach believes that the strength of the Australian league - and standard of the domestic rivalry matches between New South Wales and Queensland - offer a much better preparation for performing at the top of the international game than what is on offer in the Europe.

Wane noted that the congested Super League fixture schedule allowed little opportunity for him to work with his players during the campaign, which will only raise further questions around how England can close the divide to Australia before heading to the Southern Hemisphere in the next World Cup.

"They play a large number of internationals in their competition," he added.

"England play ten to fifteen a year. It's crucial demanding games to boost the competition and increase our chances of succeeding in these types of matches.

"It was impossible to even train with the players. There was no chance to trained together in the season and I had the total cooperation of everyone in the domestic competition.

"I have also been in the shoes of the head coaches that need to win games. The league is that packed. It's unfortunate but it's not the reason we lost today."