Members of England's victorious 2003 squad took to Twitter on Saturday night - and some were more scathing than others
Social media was ablaze on Saturday night with analysis, criticism and a fair bit of support for England’s rugby players. Unfortunately for the hosts, they were well and truly outplayed by a clinical Australia squad.
Twelve years ago England experienced different emotions after facing Australia at the World Cup in their own back yard – with Sir Clive Woodward’s boys lifting the Webb Ellis trophy in Sydney after beating the Wallabies 20-17.
A few of the members of that final squad took to Twitter to express their reactions to England crashing out of their home tournament at the first hurdle.
1. Jonny Wilkinson, he of that last-minute drop-goal fame, was very tactful in his analysis.
Painful and unfulfilling but this very difficult experience will be the defining moment 4 a very successful England team later on #1inAllin
— Jonny Wilkinson (@JonnyWilkinson) October 3, 2015
2. Will Greenwood is now backing Wales or Australia to lift the trophy.
Good Luck to Wales and Australia… @EnglandRugby Hope one of you can win @rugbyworldcup to say we lost to the Winner!!
— Will Greenwood (@WillGreenwood) October 4, 2015
3. Neil Back was a bit more expressive in his criticisms, and he may have a point.
You've got to back you're team/management but over last two weeks our lack of experience has been sadly magnified ? https://t.co/qqHYBSbpfz
— Neil Back MBE (@NeilBack) October 4, 2015
4. Mike Tindall replied to a tweet from a fan claiming that referee Romain Poite cost England the game.
You have to play the Ref and Aus did that better plus they were simply better! https://t.co/GP3TnWRwy9
— mike tindall (@miketindall13) October 3, 2015
5. Australia outfoxed England over the 80 minutes, thanks to coach Michael Cheika’s gameplan – something that ITV analyst Ben Kay appreciated.
I hate what he did to England but I really like Michael Cheika!
— Ben Kay (@BenKay5) October 3, 2015
6. Matt Dawson, host of BBC Radio 5Live’s rugby phone-in show, admits he jumped the gun a bit when he called for Stuart Lancaster to be relieved of his duties.
Didn't sleep a wink last night… I think I was too quick to say SL will go. As a fan I was angry but on reflection RFU should stand by him
— Matt Dawson (@matt9dawson) October 4, 2015
In some capacity….he's brought huge positives to this group of players. Maybe a coach, maybe in the boardroom but we must build ala 99.
— Matt Dawson (@matt9dawson) October 4, 2015
7. And Iain Balshaw, who replaced Josh Lewsey in extra time in the final in 2003, summed up what pretty much all England fans were thinking.
All eyes will be on @EnglandRugby after tonight's loss but give credit where due, the @Wallabies were the better team and bloody brilliant
— Iain Balshaw (@iainbalshaw) October 3, 2015