Lancaster faces the music after England’s Rugby World Cup defeat to Wales, but vows to meet Australia head-on

ENGLAND coach Stuart Lancaster was last night facing the music after his side’s dramatic 28-25 Rugby World Cup defeat to Wales.

He rued his side’s costly lapses of discipline, especially in the second half, which allowed the Welsh to steal a famous victory from under their noses, thanks to Dan Biggar’s late penalty.

Having had nearly three years to gear up for this monumental clash, Lancaster watched as the game slipped away when the pressure was on.

“I’m frustrated at the number of penalties we gave away, especially at the breakdown,” he admitted.

“Ultimately, that was the difference.

“Wales came with a specific game plan to get field territory, win a penalty and kick a penalty, and it worked.

“They grew in belief and started to cause us problems because they’re a quality side.

“But we didn’t get far enough ahead of them for them to change their game plan. At 19-12 ahead, we should have pulled away.”

England’s World Cup hopes are now on a knife-edge as defeat against Australia at Twickenham next Saturday would end their campaign at the pool stage.

Although the coach was trying to remain positive, he recognised they face a defining few days.

“There’s no doubt we’re now playing knockout rugby,” he said. “But teams in the past have lost a game and still reached the final.

“Now we have to roll our sleeves up pretty quickly and get ready for Australia. Everything has to go into that game.”

One of the game’s biggest talking points came when with just minutes remaining and England trailing by three, they turned down a kick in favour of a line-out, despite fly-half Owen Farrell having a 100% success rate for the evening.

The plan backfired and captain Chris Robshaw was forced to explain why.

“It was a tough kick,” he argued.

“We weighed up the options and we wanted to go for the win. We’d made some good ground with previous mauls and thought we could do it again.

“We feel we’ve let a lot of people down in the way we didn’t close the game down.

“Now it’s about getting a reaction and showing the character in the squad because it’s a huge challenge with Australia coming to town.”

Wales coach Warren Gatland was astonished that England had turned down that late kickable penalty which could have seen them snatch a draw.

“I thought they would have gone for goal and taken the draw,” he said. “It was a tough call, a brave call.

“If you get the driving line-out and it works, you’re a hero. If not, you’re a zero. But as a coach, I would have taken the three points.”

But he was thrilled with the character shown by his injury-hit squad to come away with a historic triumph.

And even for a man who has led Wales to three Six Nations titles, including two Grand Slams, and the Lions to a series win in Australia, this victory tasted that little bit sweeter.

“This is up there with one of the biggest wins I’ve ever been involved in,” said the New Zealander.

“Nothing is bigger than a World Cup and for us to come to Twickenham and win is very special.

“I’ve not shown as much emotion at 80 minutes as I did today. That meant a lot to me personally and my coaching staff.

“We looked the stronger team in the last 10 or 15 minutes and that is credit to the work we’ve put in. And the celebrations in the changing room afterwards were amazing.

“It was about courage. No one knows more than the players about how hard they’ve worked the last three months.

“If you want it badly enough, it can happen for you. I can’t ask for any more and I think we wanted it more in the closing stages.”