Toby Flood has slammed England’s inability to score tries in their 19-9 defeat against Wales as “embarrassing” and “shameful”.
The Leicester fly-half gave a blunt reaction to criticism of England’s back division after they failed to capitalise on a significant chunk of possession in Saturday’s World Cup warm-up fixture in Cardiff.
Wales were forced to make almost twice as many tackles but England were too predictable in trying to bulldoze their way over the line.
England manager Martin Johnson was furious with his team’s lack of imagination and Flood agreed with his assessment.
“I don’t want to use the word embarrassing – but it is a little bit embarrassing,” Flood said.
“It hurts, the fact we couldn’t score a try. It is shameful. We can use harsh words because if you want to win a World Cup, tries are massive.”
England turned down penalty shots at goal and Flood did not attempt a single drop goal, which would at least have been some reward for their dominance and kept the scoreboard ticking over.
Jonny Wilkinson had done just that at Twickenham the previous weekend in England’s 23-19 victory over Wales.
But Flood revealed England had a deliberate plan at the Millennium Stadium to put into practice some of the moves they have been working on during their seven week training camp.
The fact it did not work must be a serious concern for Johnson as he looks ahead to the opening World Cup match against Argentina in New Zealand on September 10.
“We could have gone out there and stretched the lead and kicked goals but we made the decision to go out there and see if things were working,” Flood said.
“I am not too fazed about the result. It is insignificant compared to the fact we haven’t been able to score a try.
“That is the hardest thing for me. That left us in a position where we think there is a lot of work to do over the next two weeks.
“We turned the ball over too much in the red zone. We won’t get that many opportunities in the World Cup. We have got to be more clinical there.
“There are a lot of things to work on, a lot of food for thought.
“We are really disappointed and frustrated.”
England now have a week off before Johnson confirms his final 30-man World Cup squad on August 22