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In the words of skipper the England captain, the national team were handed a stark "sobering lesson" as Australia secured the coveted Ashes trophy.

Australia's 14-4 triumph at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium on the weekend gave them a commanding series edge, making next week's Headingley encounter a dead rubber.

The national squad had entered the series holding aspirations of inflicting the Kangaroos to their maiden Ashes setback since 1970.

Over the last 24 months, they had secured a clean sweep over Tonga and a series win over the Samoan team. But as the prestigious competition returned after a long break, England were unable to take the next step against the reigning title holders.

"No excuses from us. We've had enough training periods to perform correctly on the pitch, and it's clear we've achieved that," Williams told.

"Australia deserve praise. They proved strong in defense. But there's plenty to work on. We're probably not as strong as we expected we were entering this series.

"This serves as a valuable reality check for us, and there is much to enhance."

The Kangaroos 'Arrive and Prove Clinical'

After being comprehensively defeated in an error-strewn display at the national stadium, England's were much improved on the weekend back in the traditional strongholds of northern England.

In a rousing initial stages, England elicited errors from the Australians and had superior positioning and possession, but unfortunately did not convert opportunities on the scoreboard.

Significantly, the English team have now scored just one score over the series so far, with St Helens hooker the forward powering through late on in the defeat in the capital.

On the other hand, the Kangaroos have scored half a dozen so far - and when errors began to appear in the hosts' play just after the break, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be heavily penalized.

First Cameron Munster crossed, and then so too did the forward. From being tied at four-all, the home side were trailing by 10.

"Satisfied for the majority of the game. I thought for most of the match we were competitive," said Wane.

"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.

"We're devastated. So proud the players had a fight but very frustrated with that after half-time, which hurt us significantly."

While the upcoming global tournament in the Southern Hemisphere is just under a year from now, the team's immediate focus will be on attempting to restore some pride, preventing a clean sweep and addressing the mistakes that irritated Wane.

"I wanted to see greater effort directed toward the opposition. My aim was us to build pressure in the game - we fell short last week," added the veteran coach.

"We did this week. The issue is a minor refinements in our offense where we could have applied under greater stress. We need to stop each of [tries] better.

"Credit to the Kangaroos - that is no slight to them. They perform and are ruthless when they get a chance, and we weren't, but in defense we can and should do better.

"The Australians will be focused to win all three Tests and we need to be equally determined to make it a competitive series. I've told that to the squad. This must become our main aim. It will be a challenging week but the side that strives for it the most will secure victory next week."

Intensity Must to Increase in Super League

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

However Wane believes that the strength of the NRL - and level of the domestic rivalry matches between New South Wales and QLD - offer a superior foundation for competing at the top of the global stage than what is on offer in the UK.

The England coach added that the congested Super League fixture list left little opportunity for him to coach his players during the season, which will only pose additional concerns around how the national team can close the divide to the Kangaroos before heading to Oceania in the next World Cup.

"They participate in a large number of internationals in their league," he stated.

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

"I couldn't even train with the players. We never got on the field in the season and despite having the full backing of all clubs in the domestic competition.

"I understand in the position of the club managers that must to win games. The league is that congested. It's a pity but that's not the reason we were defeated today."