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According to skipper the England captain, the national team were delivered a harsh "sobering lesson" as the Kangaroos clinched the Rugby League Ashes.

Australia's 14-4 triumph at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday gave them a commanding series edge, making the upcoming Headingley encounter a academic contest.

The England team had come into the series harbouring hopes of sending Australia to their initial series loss since 1970.

Over the last 24 months, they had secured a 3-0 series win over the Tongan side and a series win over the Samoan team. But as the historic rivalry returned after a long break, the English were unable to advance further against the top-ranked team.

"We take full responsibility. We've had enough sessions to get it right on the pitch, and it's clear we've achieved that," Williams told.

"Full marks to the Kangaroos. They proved good in defense. But we've got a lot to address. It seems not as good as we expected we were entering this series.

"So it's a valuable lesson for us, and there is much to improve on."

The Kangaroos 'Arrive and Are Ruthless'

After being soundly beaten in an sloppy showing at the national stadium, Wane side's were significantly better on Saturday back in the core regions of the North.

During an energetic opening period, England forced mistakes from the Australians and had dominant territory and ball control, but crucially did not make it count on the scoreboard.

Significantly, England have now scored just one score over the series so far, with St Helens hooker Daryl Clark barging over late on in the defeat in the capital.

In contrast, the Kangaroos have scored half a dozen in two games - and when errors began to creep into the England's play just after the half-time, it was a case of certainty, they were going to be heavily penalized.

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

"Satisfied for the majority of the game. In my view for 70 minutes we were competitive," said Wane.

"The lapse for a brief period after half-time damaged us immensely. The first try was soft and should never happen in a Test match.

"We're deeply disappointed. So proud the players had a go but very frustrated with that post-interval, which hurt us dearly."

While the next World Cup in Oceania is just under a year from now, the team's primary concern will be on trying to regain respect, avoiding a 3-0 sweep and eradicating the errors that irritated the coach.

"I wanted to see greater effort directed toward Australia. I wanted us to build pressure in the game - we fell short last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We managed this week. The issue is a minor refinements in our attack where we could have applied under greater stress. It's essential to stop each of [tries] more effectively.

"Fair play to Australia - that is not a criticism to them. They arrive and are clinical when they capitalize, and we weren't, but defensively we can and should do improve.

"They will be determined to win the series whitewash and we need to be obsessed to make it a competitive series. I've told that to the squad. It has to be our obsession. It's going to be a challenging week but the side that strives for it the most will emerge victorious next week."

Competitive Edge Must to Improve in Domestic Competition

The English side have played a similar number of Test matches to Australia since the previous global tournament in 2022.

Yet Wane believes that the caliber of the NRL - and standard of the domestic rivalry matches between New South Wales and Queensland - deliver a more effective foundation for competing at the top of the global stage than what is available in the UK.

The England coach commented that the packed domestic league fixture list left no time for him to work with his players during the campaign, which will only pose additional concerns around how England can narrow the difference to the Kangaroos before travelling to Oceania in the next World Cup.

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

"We have ten to fifteen a year. We need really intense games to improve the domestic league and boost our chances of winning these types of matches.

"I couldn't even practice with the players. We never trained together in the season and I had the total cooperation of all clubs in Super League.

"I have also been in the shoes of the club managers that must to win games. The league is that tight. It's a pity but it's not the reason we got beaten today."