🔗 Share this article

According to skipper George Williams, the national team were delivered a stark "reality check" as Australia won the Rugby League Ashes.

The Kangaroos' 14-4 victory at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium on the weekend gave them a commanding series edge, making the upcoming Headingley encounter a academic contest.

Shaun Wane's side had entered the series dreaming of sending Australia to their maiden Ashes setback since the 1970s.

Recently, they had secured a 3-0 series win over Tonga and a series win over the Samoan team. But as the Rugby League Ashes returned after a two-decade hiatus, the English were failed to make the leap against the top-ranked team.

"We're not making excuses. There were enough training periods to get it right on the pitch, and I don't think we've managed that," Williams stated.

"Australia deserve praise. They were good defensively. But we've got a lot to work on. It seems not as good as we expected we were entering this series.

"This serves as a good lesson for us, and there is much to improve on."

The Kangaroos 'Arrive and Prove Ruthless'

Having been comprehensively defeated in an sloppy showing at the national stadium, England's were much improved on Saturday back in the rugby league heartlands of the North.

In an inspiring initial stages, England caused turnovers from the Kangaroos and had superior positioning and possession, but importantly did not convert opportunities on the points tally.

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 setback in London.

Conversely, the Kangaroos have accumulated six across the series - and when errors began to appear in the hosts' play just after the half-time, it was a case of inevitability, they were going to be severely punished.

Initially Cameron Munster scored, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being level at 4-4, England were 10 points adrift.

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

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

"We're devastated. So proud the squad had a fight but so disappointed with that second-half lapse, which proved costly dearly."

Although the upcoming global tournament in the Southern Hemisphere is just under a year from now, England's primary concern will be on attempting to restore some pride, avoiding a clean sweep and eliminating the issues that irritated the coach.

"I wanted to see greater effort thrown at the opposition. I wanted us to apply sustained attack in the game - we didn't do that last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We did this week. It's just a lack of precision in our offensive play where we could have put them under more pressure. We need to stop each of [tries] with greater resolve.

"Fair play to Australia - that is no detriment to them. They arrive and are clinical when they seize opportunities, and we weren't, but in defense we must do better.

"They will be obsessed to win all three Tests 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 primary goal. It will be a tough week but whoever desires it the greatest will emerge victorious next week."

Competitive Edge Needs to Increase in Domestic Competition

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

However Wane thinks that the caliber of the Australian league - and level of the domestic rivalry matches between NSW and Queensland - provide a much better foundation for competing at the top of the global stage than what is available in the northern hemisphere.

The England coach commented that the congested Super League fixture schedule left no time for him to train his squad during the season, which will only raise more issues around how England can narrow the difference to the Kangaroos before heading to the Southern Hemisphere in the next World Cup.

"The Australians play a lot of Test matches in their competition," he stated.

"England have 10-15 a year. It's crucial demanding games to improve the domestic league and improve our prospects of succeeding in these types of matches.

"It was impossible to even practice with the players. We never got on the field in the season and I had the complete support of everyone in the domestic competition.

"I understand in the position of the head coaches that must to win games. The competition is that packed. It's unfortunate but it's not the reason we were defeated today."