England’s decision to substitute Sam Burgess against Wales was

Sky Sports’ Will Greenwood says the balance of the England team is off, but consistency in selection is key against Australia… His two-try performance made him Australia’s leading World Cup try scorer and equal second overall. Scott Williams, Liam Williams and Hallam Amos have joined the casualty list and Fiji might fancy their chances of causing an upset in Cardiff against a side that gave everything of itself in recording only their third victory at Twickenham in 25 years. This win will have registered with every man, woman, and child in Wales.

“He’s going to start learning about the “benefits” of no sleep, isn’t he, because he will be playing off the back of no sleep”. They are a truly resilient bunch.

Stuart Lancaster had two priorities yesterday as he embarked on the challenging process of rescuing England’s tottering World Cup campaign from demolition: a summit meeting with his players to examine the detail of the late collapse against Wales, and urgent discussions with his medical staff over injuries affecting four first-choice players – the lock Courtney Lawes, the No 8 Billy Vunipola, the scrum-half Ben Youngs and the centre Jonathan Joseph.

Test rookie Sam Burgess, meanwhile, insists that Michael Cheika’s Australia would love nothing more than to strike the fatal blow which knocks host nation England out of their home tournament. That does nor auger well.

Had England secured a draw against Warren Gatland’s underdogs, they would have been in a stronger position come the final reckoning of an unprecedented tough Pool A. Bigger barely got a mention in the great out-half debate but when it mattered most, he was the one that kept his team in the contest and showed maturity when it was needed most.

“You have to kick the penalty”.

If anything the ground rules were set well in advance of kick-off when England re-shaped their entire back line to counter the physical threat of the Welsh. We also have huge ambitions and hopes individually and collectively as a side and we want to make sure that our tournament doesn’t end after Uruguay.

Youngs said he would be “fine” for the do-or-die game when he faced the media directly after the game, but head coach Stuart Lancaster said that he was still a doubt. To blame Burgess for this defeat misses the point completely.

Why can’t players last the full 80 minutes these days? If you don’t believe in yourself, it is hard to get others to do so.

That task has been enthusiastically embraced by people outside the camp: Robshaw’s call to risk losing the match by trying to win it, rather than settle for an honours-even outcome, has been criticised by all and sundry. In the amateur era, we would have one note come down to the pitch.

At some point, England need to get some consistency going with their selections.

He tried to stay on as long as he could, but has suffered what looked like an ankle injury when his leg got caught under two players in the first half. “It was a collective error that may haunt them for the rest of their lives”. They have the capacity to stretch an emotionally drained Welsh squad.

Australia’s Matt Toomua powers forward against Uruguay.