England are in need of brains and brawn

For all England's set-piece dominance, which was almost total, they lacked the scalpel-like incisiveness provided by Hook. The midfield of Shontayne Hape and Mike Tindall was easily repelled by Wales, while winger Matt Banahan looked heavy footed and short of Test-match calibre for the third game in a row.

England's work at the breakdown was slapdash at best.

Fly-half Toby Flood, who described the performance as "embarrassing", was also below par and seemed confused over whether he should be delivering training-ground plays or delivering a win. Jonny Wilkinson is breathing down his neck.

There were "positives", as England's players stated after the game but they were few and far between, and Johnson's post-match demeanour spoke volumes.

"Johnno didn't say very much afterwards," said replacement lock Tom Palmer. "He was obviously very upset and just trying to keep himself under control. Normally when we've lost he's tried to find positives and say something constructive. On Saturday he didn't say anything. That says it all.We haven't just let ourselves down, but we've let the coaches down, everyone is so disappointed. It's not good enough to have that much possession and territory and not win a match."

While the past week has muddied selection ahead of England's opening World Cup fixture against Argentina in 27 days, they do at least have a chance to re-right their boat against Ireland in Dublin a week on Saturday.

Johnson will tell his players of their fate this week, with the squad under orders to ensure they are contactable at all times as they take a break from camp before returning on Sunday. London Irish prop Alex Corbisiero and Harlequins scrum-half Danny Care were two of only a handful of players to enhance their reputations on Saturday. Both can expect good news.

While Johnson is unlikely to make any knee-jerk decisions as a result of Saturday's non-show belief in his squad must have been shaken.

"That second-half performance could have hurt a few individuals," admitted flanker Tom Wood.

Meanwhile, Wales centre Gavin Henson is unlikely to feature at the World Cup after dislocating a bone in his wrist on Saturday against England.

The 29-year-old underwent surgery yesterday after being forced off midway through the first half of Wales' impressive win.