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In the words of leader the England captain, England were given a stark "reality check" as the Kangaroos clinched the Rugby League Ashes.

The Kangaroos' decisive 14-4 win at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday gave them a unassailable 2-0 advantage, making the upcoming final match in Leeds a meaningless fixture.

Shaun Wane's side had come into the series harbouring hopes of sending Australia to their maiden Ashes setback since 1970.

Recently, they had secured a clean sweep over the Tongan side and a series win over Samoa. But as the prestigious competition returned after a two-decade hiatus, England were unable to take the next step against the world champions.

"We take full responsibility. There were enough sessions to execute properly on the pitch, and I don't think we've managed that," Williams told.

"Credit to Australia. They were good defensively. But there's a lot to improve. We're probably not as strong as we expected we were going into this series.

"So it's a valuable lesson for us, and [there is] loads to enhance."

Australia 'Arrive and Prove Merciless'

Having been soundly beaten in an sloppy showing at Wembley, Wane side's were significantly better on the weekend back in the traditional strongholds of England's north.

In a rousing opening period, England forced mistakes from the Australians and had superior positioning and possession, but crucially did not make it count on the points tally.

Significantly, England have now scored just one score over two full matches, with St Helens hooker Daryl Clark scoring late on in the setback in the capital.

In contrast, the Kangaroos have scored half a dozen so far - and when errors began to creep into the hosts' play just after the break, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be made to pay.

Initially the playmaker went over, and then so too did the forward. From being level at four-all, the home side were trailing by 10.

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

"The drop in intensity for a brief period after half-time hurt us severely. Munster's try was easy and should never happen in a Test match.

"We're heartbroken. Extremely pleased the squad had a fight but very frustrated with that second-half lapse, which proved costly dearly."

Although the upcoming global tournament in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under a year from now, England's short-term goal will be on attempting to salvage honor, avoiding a series whitewash and addressing the errors that annoyed Wane.

"I hoped to see greater effort directed toward the opposition. My aim was us to apply sustained attack in the game - we failed to deliver last week," added the veteran coach.

"We managed this week. It's just a minor refinements in our offensive play where we could have applied under more pressure. It's essential to defend both [tries] with greater resolve.

"Credit to Australia - that is no slight to them. They turn up and are ruthless when they seize opportunities, and we failed to be, but in defense we must do improve.

"They will be obsessed to win 3-0 and we need to be equally determined to make it a competitive series. I've said that to the players. It has to be our obsession. It's going to be a challenging week but whoever wants it the greatest will secure victory next week."

Intensity Must to Improve in Super League

The English side have played a similar number of international fixtures to the Kangaroos since the previous global tournament in recent years.

However the coach thinks that the quality of the NRL - and level of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and QLD - offer a more effective grounding for competing at the top of the global stage than what is available in the northern hemisphere.

The England coach added that the packed Super League calendar left little opportunity for him to work with his players during the season, which will only raise more issues around how the national team can bridge the gap to the Kangaroos before travelling to Oceania in the next World Cup.

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

"England have ten to fifteen a year. We need highly competitive games to boost the competition and increase our chances of winning these sorts of games.

"It was impossible to even train with the squad. We never trained together in the season and despite having the complete support of all clubs in the domestic competition.

"I understand in the position of the head coaches that must to win games. The league is that tight. It's a pity but that's not the cause we were defeated today."