Mike Ford has delivered a brutally honest assessment of England's painful World Cup struggle as they flirt perilously with pool stage elimination.

No reigning rugby world champion has failed to reach the tournament's knockout rounds, yet England could humiliatingly buck that trend.

Their 36-0 defeat against South Africe has further battered already shaky confidence levels, and defence coach Ford admits ''anger'' and ''embarrassment'' are emotions pervading the squad.

He said: ''We have got to treat this week as a knockout week. If we lose to Samoa, then we are probably going home.

''It has brought us all closer together. We have a good idea what has been said outside the camp, and it is time to stick together.

''South Afica have got one or two world-class players, and scrum-half Fourie du Preez was a massive difference. He saw three opportunities, and there were three tries there.

''We just haven't got those sort of world-class players in our team. In 2003, I think we had six or seven players who would get into a World XV."

Ford revealed the England coaches conducted a four-hour debrief into the Springboks debacle, while the players also called their own meeting.

He added: ''The players wanted to get this game out of the way on Saturday morning, and there was a lot of honesty in that room about what we had done wrong and what we need to do.

''We were up for the game. We were on the edge in terms of the way we trained, and you can't criticise the players for their effort. There was a lot of anger after the game, a lot of embarrassment as well.

''The coaches have got to go through it as well. My stomach, at the moment, is in turmoil, and we will do whatever it takes to get things right for next Saturday.

''All we can do is come out on Saturday, win and then back that up against Tonga, and we will be in the quarter-finals.''

Australia are England's likely last-eight opponents - assuming the Webb Ellis Trophy holders get that far - and confidence, or the lack of it, has become a major issue.

Ford said: ''We can't feel sorry for ourselves. If we feel sorry for ourselves, then we go home.

''Confidence is massive. It is a very fine line between having it and not having it, and at the moment, we haven't got it."