England coach Clive Woodward admitted Thursday that last weekend's defeat by Ireland had been the "reality check" his under-performing world champions had needed.
But after seeing his team's 22 Test match unbeaten home run ended in a 19-13 reverse against Ireland, Woodward vowed England would bounce back in their Six Nations game against Wales here at Twickenham on March 20.
"It was the reality check, the wake up-call we needed. But we will be a lot better. You'll see a different England team next weekend," Woodward insisted at a Twickenham media conference after unveiling a 28-man training squad for the Wales game.
He added that England had been struggling to maintain their standards after defeating Australia in November's Sydney World Cup Final.
"We won the World Cup because we did a hundred things one percent better than everyone else; since the World Cup we've done a hundred things one percent worse. We just could not keep that momentum going.
"Saturday's result was waiting to happen... We didn't play well in Rome, didn't play well in Edinburgh and we didn't play that well at the World Cup," Woodward said.
"Against Ireland, it was like skiing uphill. But that's not to take anything away from Ireland. That we lost by only six points was the interesting thing."
He added: "It's been difficult to say no to things since the World Cup. From me downwards there are a lot of little things that we've not been doing right." |