England's Ashes Hopes Finish with Harsh 'Wake-Up Call'

As stated by skipper the England captain, England were given a stark "sobering lesson" as Australia secured the Rugby League Ashes.

Australia's 14-4 triumph at the stadium in Liverpool on the weekend gave them a commanding series edge, making next week's sold-out third Test a dead rubber.

The national squad had entered the series dreaming of sending the Kangaroos to their initial series loss since the 1970s.

Recently, they had secured a clean sweep over Tonga and a success over the Samoan team. But as the prestigious competition returned after a 22-year absence, England were unable to advance further against the world champions.

"We take full responsibility. We've had enough sessions to perform correctly on the pitch, and I don't think we've achieved that," Williams commented.

"Credit to Australia. They were excellent defensively. But there's loads to improve. We're probably not as strong as we thought we were going into this series.

"So it's a good wake-up call for us, and there is much to enhance."

The Kangaroos 'Show Up and Are Clinical'

Having been heavily outplayed in an sloppy showing at the national stadium, England's were significantly better on the weekend back in the core regions of northern England.

During an energetic opening period, the home side caused turnovers from the Australians and had superior positioning and ball control, but crucially did not make it count on the scoreboard.

Significantly, England have now scored just a single touchdown over the series so far, with St Helens hooker Daryl Clark scoring late on in the setback in the capital.

In contrast, the Kangaroos have racked up half a dozen in two games - and when errors began to appear in the England's play just after the break, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be heavily penalized.

Initially Cameron Munster scored, and then so too did the forward. From being tied at four-all, England were 10 points adrift.

"Proud for the bulk of the game. In my view for 70 minutes we were solid," said the coach.

"The switch off for 10 minutes after the break damaged us immensely. The first try was avoidable and should never happen in a Test match.

"We're heartbroken. So proud the squad had a dig but very frustrated with that second-half lapse, which cost us dearly."

While the next World Cup in the Southern Hemisphere is just under next year, England's short-term goal will be on trying to restore some pride, preventing a 3-0 sweep and addressing the errors that annoyed Wane.

"I hoped to see additional intensity directed toward Australia. I wanted us to build pressure in the game - we failed to deliver last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We did this week. The issue is a minor refinements in our offense where we could have put them under increased strain. It's essential to stop each of [tries] with greater resolve.

"Fair play to the Kangaroos - that is no detriment to them. They arrive and are clinical when they capitalize, and we weren't, but defensively we can and should do better.

"They will be determined to win 3-0 and we need to be equally determined to make it 2-1. I've said that to the players. It has to be our primary goal. It will be a challenging week but whoever strives for it the greatest will get the win next week."

Competitive Edge Must to Improve in Super League

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

However Wane argues that the quality of the NRL - and level of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and QLD - offer a superior foundation for performing at the highest level of the international game than what is available in the UK.

The England coach commented that the congested domestic league fixture schedule allowed no time for him to work with his team during the season, which will only raise further questions around how the national team can narrow the difference to the Kangaroos before heading to Oceania in 2026.

"The Australians play a lot of internationals in their league," he stated.

"We have 10-15 a year. It's crucial highly competitive games to boost the competition and increase our chances of winning these sorts of games.

"It was impossible to even practice with the players. There was no chance to trained together in the campaign and despite having the total cooperation of all clubs in the domestic competition.

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