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PARIS - Stand-in England skipper Martin Corry admitted the world champions were suffering from "shell-shock" after being thrashed 36-0 by South Africa at the Stade de France here on Saturday (NZ time).
The defeat, England's worst in the World Cup, followed their lacklustre 28-10 opening Pool A win
against minnows the United States.
And it leaves them with the very real prospect of having to beat Samoa next week just to reach the knockout stages.
Corry, leading the side in place of the suspended Phil Vickery, told reporters: "It's a bit of a shell-shock. Being honest, we went into this game thinking we could win. We'll have the same mindset next week. We're not going to self-destruct."
England coach Brian Ashton added: "There's going to have to be a big performance coming out next weekend, or we're going home."
The World Cup holders were 20-0 down at half-time and back-row forward Corry said: "What happened is we gifted them 20 points.
"They didn't really have to work particularly hard for those points and after that we were playing catch-up rugby.
"South Africa didn't have to for first three scores, that's the most disappointing thing. You can't afford to give sides a head start in international rugby," he added.
England's first World Cup loss since a 44-21 defeat against the Springboks in the 1999 quarter-final, also at the Stade de France, was compounded by fresh injuries to a squad already featuring several sidelined players.
Jason Robinson, England's best player on Saturday, limped off on the hour mark after pulling up with a left leg injury during a rare attack by the world champions. It looked like a career-ending injury for the 2003 World Cup-winner, who'd already announced his intention to retire after this tournament.
And centre Jamie Noon was stretchered off late on.
England had gone into the game minus outside-halves Olly Barkley (hip), the man-of-the-match against the United States and Jonny Wilkinson, the drop-goal hero of four years ago yet to feature in this World Cup because of an ankle problem.
"I honestly don't know the extent (of the injuries). It looked like a hamstring in Jason's case and medial ligament in Jamie's case," said Ashton.
He added: "South Africa are one of top two sides in world rugby. They played extremely well for 80 minutes and were the better side.
"It's not been the easiest week. It seems to follow me around when I lose players through illness and injury and we may have lost further players today. We can't walk away, we've just got to get on with it."
- AFP