Sparky

The feeling in the dressing room after Saturday's defeat to Wales was one of absolute shock. We were all stunned by what had happened.

Not a lot was said but Brian Ashton told us that you can't make the sort of mistakes that we did and expect to win games of international rugby.

The Wales players celebrate at the final whistle
Wales celebrate their first victory at Twickenham since 1988

We'd put ourselves in a brilliant position, but we just watched it slip away in the space of a mad eight or so minutes in the second half.

From being under virtually no pressure, we found ourselves in a situation where it spiralled out of our control.

We have to take the lessons from this defeat very quickly and put it right - like we did at the World Cup after the first South Africa game.

We should have scored more points when we were on top. At half-time we just said 'let's have more of the same'.

We expected to get more opportunities, and they were there - but we didn't take them because of sloppiness on our part.

We gave Wales their opportunities on a plate. There was too much risky passing which was just totally unnecessary. We played like we were behind when we should have controlled the game and kept it tighter.

With hindsight, we should have said 'we're ahead and we've lost a few key players - let's knock the ambition on the head'. But we didn't.


England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson
It's very, very unfair to single out Jonny Wilkinson for criticism

There was enough leadership and experience on the field for us to dig ourselves out of the hole but it didn't happen.

We're trying to move forward as a team and we want ambition, but it's cost us dear in this case. Wales are fantastic in broken-field situations and our mistakes gave them ample opportunity to show how much talent they have.

Wales deserve a massive amount of credit for hanging in there and raising their game when it mattered. It's a huge achievement for their squad after going so long without winning at Twickenham.

But I genuinely still think we can have a successful Six Nations. It is a blip, and one that we can get over if we react to it in the right way.

I've heard that Jonny Wilkinson is getting some stick, but when we go through the video of the match I think that you could go through the whole team and be critical of certain things, so it's very, very unfair to single out Jonny.

It's a team sport and we're all decision makers, not just one or two of us. It was a collective defeat and not down to any one individual. We've got a great spirit within the squad and it's absolutely vital that we stay tight now.


Everyone is absolutely desperate to make amends against Italy

I felt myself and Jonny were orchestrating England into good positions in the first half but it was just a complete contrast in the second half.

I was reasonably happy with my own form but I know there's more to come. I really want to get my running game going, but there was just no space out there against Wales.

I think Wales were permanently right on the limit of the offside line, but that is the way that teams coached by Shaun Edwards play and you have to credit them for closing us down.

There were glimpses in the first half of us playing some really good stuff and I was pleased for the three guys - Lesley Vainikolo, Danny Cipriani and Luke Narraway - who made their debuts. I just wish we could have given them a result to remember.

As pleased as I am for those guys, I'm gutted for my Harlequins team-mate David Strettle who was forced off with another metatarsal injury.

England centre Mike Tindall is carried off the field on a stretcher
England will be missing Mike Tindall for the rest of the tournament
And we're all thinking of Mike Tindall who was in hospital after suffering a bruised liver. He was clearly in some pain when he came off.

On top of that there's injuries to Lewis Moody and Tom Rees, so we'll have to regroup quickly.

It's an occupational hazard of being a professional sportsman that your results affect the rest of your life. When you win you're on a massive high and everything's hunky-dory - but it's a different story when you lose.

It's a big job for the family to pick you back up again but my family are pretty used to it now.

I spent Sunday morning with the boys with a recovery session, but Sunday afternoon was a chance to spend a bit of quality time with my lovely twin daughters and the rest of my family by going out for Sunday lunch and unwinding.

It's just as well we got the chance to do that because it's going to be a big week in training.

Everyone is absolutely desperate to make amends against Italy - that game can't come around quickly enough.

Andy Gomarsall was talking to BBC Sport Interactive's Phil Harlow