The English Rugby League Ashes Dreams Finish with Brutal 'Reality Check'

According to skipper George Williams, England were delivered a harsh "reality check" as Australia 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.

The England team had entered the series holding aspirations of inflicting the Kangaroos to their initial series loss since the 1970s.

In the past two years, they had achieved a dominant victory over the Tongan side and a success over the Samoan team. But as the prestigious competition returned after a long break, the English were failed to make the leap against the top-ranked team.

"We take full responsibility. There were enough training periods to get it right on the field, and it's clear we've quite done that," Williams commented.

"Australia deserve praise. They proved strong defensively. But there's a lot to address. We're probably not as strong as we expected we were entering this series.

"This serves as a good lesson for us, and we have plenty to improve on."

The Kangaroos 'Arrive and Prove Clinical'

Having been comprehensively defeated in an error-strewn display at Wembley, England's were much improved on the weekend back in the rugby league heartlands of the North.

During an energetic opening period, England forced mistakes from the Australians and had all the field position and ball control, but unfortunately did not capitalize on the points tally.

Significantly, the English team have now scored just a single touchdown over the series so far, with St Helens hooker Daryl Clark powering through late on in the loss in London.

In contrast, Australia have scored six in two games - and when errors began to appear in the England's play just after the half-time, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be heavily penalized.

First Cameron Munster went over, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being level at 4-4, the home side were down by double digits.

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

"The switch off for 10 minutes after the break hurt us greatly. The first try was easy and should not be scored in a top-level game.

"The team is devastated. Extremely pleased the squad had a dig but so disappointed with that post-interval, which proved costly heavily."

Although the upcoming global tournament in Oceania is just under 12 months away, the team's primary concern will be on trying to salvage honor, preventing a clean sweep and eliminating the errors that irritated the coach.

"I wanted to see more directed toward Australia. I wanted us to maintain momentum in the game - we didn't do that last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We managed this week. The issue is a lack of precision in our attack where we could have applied under increased strain. It's essential to defend both [tries] better.

"Fair play to Australia - that is no detriment to them. They arrive and are clinical when they capitalize, and we failed to be, but defensively we must do enhance.

"They will be focused to win 3-0 and we need to be obsessed to make it a respectable scoreline. I've said that to the squad. This must become our primary goal. It will be a tough week but the side that wants it the greatest will emerge victorious next week."

Competitive Edge Needs to Improve in Domestic Competition

The English side have participated in a comparable number of Test matches to Australia since the previous global tournament in recent years.

Yet Wane argues that the strength of the NRL - and level of the domestic rivalry matches between New South Wales and QLD - provide a much better preparation for competing at the top of the global stage than what is available in the UK.

The England coach noted that the hectic domestic league fixture schedule allowed no time for him to coach his team during the season, which will only pose more issues around how England can narrow the difference to Australia before heading to the Southern Hemisphere in the next World Cup.

"The Australians participate in a large number of Test matches in their league," Wane stated.

"We play ten to fifteen a year. It's crucial highly competitive games to boost the competition and improve our prospects of succeeding in these types of matches.

"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 have also been in the shoes of the head coaches that need to win games. The competition is that tight. It's a pity but that's not the cause we were defeated today."