The Kangaroos Overcome The English Side to Keep Ashes
According to leader the England captain, England were delivered a harsh "sobering lesson" as the Kangaroos won the coveted Ashes trophy.
The Kangaroos' 14-4 victory at the stadium in Liverpool on the weekend gave them a unassailable 2-0 advantage, making the upcoming Headingley encounter a meaningless fixture.
Shaun Wane's side had come into the series harbouring hopes of sending Australia to their maiden Ashes setback since over five decades ago.
Recently, they had enjoyed a 3-0 series win over Tonga and a series win over Samoa. But as the historic rivalry returned after a 22-year absence, the English were failed to advance further against the top-ranked team.
"No excuses from us. There were enough training periods to execute properly on the pitch, and I don't think we've achieved that," Williams stated.
"Credit to Australia. They were strong in defense. But there's plenty to improve. We're probably not as strong as we believed we were going into this series.
"This serves as a valuable reality check for us, and [there is] loads to improve on."
Australia 'Show Up and Prove Merciless'
Australia scored a pair of tries in a short burst during the second half of the second Test
After being soundly beaten in an mistake-ridden performance at Wembley, Wane side's were markedly enhanced on Saturday back in the rugby league heartlands of the North.
During an energetic initial stages, England elicited errors from the Kangaroos and had all the field position and ball control, but crucially did not capitalize on the scoreboard.
Significantly, the English team have now scored just one score over the series so far, with player Daryl Clark powering through late on in the defeat in the capital.
On the other hand, the Kangaroos have scored half a dozen across the series - and when blunders began to appear in the hosts' play just after the half-time, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be made to pay.
First Cameron Munster crossed, and then so too did the forward. From being tied at 4-4, England were 10 points adrift.
"Satisfied for the bulk of the game. I thought for 70 minutes we were competitive," said Wane.
"The switch off for a brief period after the break cost us immensely. The first try was avoidable and should never happen in a top-level game.
"The team is devastated. So proud the players had a dig but very frustrated with that post-interval, which cost us dearly."
Although the next World Cup in Australia and Papua New Guinea is just under next year, the team's short-term goal will be on trying to regain respect, preventing a 3-0 sweep and eradicating the mistakes that annoyed Wane.
"I wanted to see greater effort thrown at the opposition. I wanted us to maintain momentum in the game - we failed to deliver 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 defend both [tries] better.
"Credit to Australia - that is not a criticism to them. They turn up and are merciless when they seize opportunities, and we failed to be, but in defense we can and should do better.
"They will be obsessed to win 3-0 and we need to be obsessed to make it 2-1. I've told that to the squad. This must become our obsession. It will be a tough week but the side that strives for it the most will get the win next week."
Competitive Edge Needs to Elevate in Super League
The English side have participated in a comparable number of international fixtures to Australia since the previous global tournament in recent years.
However the coach argues that the quality of the Australian league - and standard of the domestic rivalry matches between New South Wales and QLD - offer a much better foundation for competing at the highest level of the global stage than what is available in the Europe.
The England coach noted that the congested Super League calendar allowed no time for him to coach his squad during the campaign, which will only pose more issues around how England can bridge the gap to the Kangaroos before travelling to Oceania in the next World Cup.
"They play a lot of internationals in their competition," he stated.
"We have ten to fifteen a year. We need highly competitive games to enhance the competition and boost our prospects of winning these types of matches.
"It was impossible to even train with the players. There was no chance to trained together in the campaign and despite having the total cooperation of everyone in Super League.
"I understand in the boots of the club managers that need to win games. The competition is that congested. It's a pity but it's not the cause we were defeated today."