Wednesday 30 September 2015 09:08, UK
Sir Clive Woodward said England's replacements did not deliver after the host nation were beaten 28-25 by Wales at Twickenham.
England now need a win against Australia next Saturday or else face the realistic possibility that they will become the first host nation to fail to reach the quarter-finals.
It was a devastating loss for Stuart Lancaster's side who appeared to be in charge of the Pool A encounter when they went 19-9 up early in the second half. However, with even more injuries mounting, Wales fought-back to secure the memorable win.
"England started the second half well to move into a 19-9 lead. Another score then and it could have been over, but from that point onwards England let Wales back in," said Woodward in the Daily Mail.
"It pains me to say it but England looked like a team of amateurs playing against streetwise professionals in the last 20 minutes.
"Some of the replacements were apparently down to injuries but England used their entire bench and they just didn't deliver.
"They failed to maintain the momentum and the steam seamed to disappear out of the team.
"England lost the shape which had served them so well and for a period they stopped being proactive and mistakes started to creep into their game."
Penalty count
Another concern for Woodward was the amount of penalties that England gave away which he is expecting Lancaster and his staff to work hard on this week, and while he understands the need for some retrospection, he says the players need to get over it quickly and start focusing on Australia.
"England have been conceding too many penalties for too long and need to take a good look at themselves," added the 2003 World Cup winning coach.
"That was incredibly sloppy and undermines all the other very good work they put in.
"You are not going to win these huge matches coughing up these needless penalties. They have to get it below 10.
"England should now allow themselves 24 hours to be bitterly angry, narky and upset. They need to get it out of the system. And then on Monday morning they must clock on and produce the best week's rugby of their lives.
"England must train perfectly and play brilliantly against Australia on Saturday."
