RWC 2015 EXCLUSIVE: Phil Vickery: "Robshaw’s only crime was being naïve – but it was schoolboy stuff"

Now is not the time to look back at what happened or what should have happened – now is the time to look at what HAS to happen if England are going to qualify for the knockout stages of the World Cup.

There was so much finger pointing and blame after losing to Wales and I know I said the losers of the match would not make the last eight.

But the way both teams played proved to me that it’s still all to play for in this pool.

England CAN beat Australia and CAN top the group – but it is going to be one hell of an ask.

[LEWIS MOODY: ENGLAND HAVE NO CHANCE AGAINST AUSTRALIA]

[TOM WOOD FEELS "GUILTY" OVER WILLIAMS'S HEAD INJURY]

[ROMANIAN PLAYER POPS THE QUESTION ON WEMBLEY PITCH AFTER IRELAND LOSS]

This might not be one of the great Australian teams of yesteryear but they have some very talented players – they proved that in the Rugby Championship.

But they are beatable and it’s going to be time for the big characters in the England squad to make themselves heard and get the team over the finishing line.

Let’s not forget we were hammered by South Africa in 2007 but still made the final so it’s far from a done deal – but losing to Wales has certainly made things more difficult for us.

A lot has been made of Chris Robshaw’s decision not to go for goal and try and draw the match - as well as the changes made by Stuart Lancaster.

If I had been faced with a penalty like that I would have asked the kicker if he fancied it and acted on that.

But there were enough people on the pitch to have made their views clear to the captain – he might have to make the final choice - but others could and should have had their say so it’s not all down to him.

The biggest travesty to me was not the fact that they went for a lineout but where they threw the ball.

[LANCASTER DESPERATE TO GET JOSEPH BACK]

Everyone knows throwing the ball to the front is the safest lineout call but from the front it’s just about impossible to get a decent push.

When the ball went to the front I thought England were going to execute a training ground move involving blind side runs, drawing defenders and getting the backs over the line.

Chris Robshaw’s only crime was being naïve – but it was schoolboy stuff. I do not know what was said on that pitch at that exact moment but the decision to throw to the front of the lineout was bizarre.

And then there were the changes made by the coach.

He gambled on Sam Burgess and Owen Farrell and I thought they looked excellent. I had been of the opinion that Burgess was merely an impact player but he proved me wrong.

He didn’t look injured and he’s certainly fit enough to last 80 minutes and the fact we looked disjointed after the changes tells its own story.

Lancaster had to make changes brought about by injuries but I thought Wales – for all the fact they were losing players at a rate of knots – got stronger.

Take nothing away from that Welsh display – they never gave up, they fought every inch of the way and were superb. That gather and kick for the decisive try was amazing skill. A game changer. A tournament changer.

But they HAD to make their changes. We didn’t at such a crucial stage and only Lancaster knows why he did.

It seemed to sum up the self-destruct button that was pressed after getting into such a great position midway through the second half.

One thing that did concern me was lack of discipline from our forwards – stupid penalties conceded by Dan Cole and Courtney Lawes resulted in points being scored against us and Tom Wood also gave too many penalties for my liking.

Now England need those experienced big players to show the form we showed in 2007. It’s a straight knockout match against Australia – lose to them and it’s goodnight Vienna.

But England can do it – Lancaster has got his players up to hammer the All Blacks in the past and he also got his team to run in all those points against France in the Six Nations in one-off matches so it can be done

As long as we can cut out the errors we have a chance.

We have the players, we have the coaches, we have environment and we have the fans – now the excuses have to stop and we have to get out there and rebuild our World Cup challenge.

But just in case you all think it’s going to be a cruise for Wales now, they have a huge injury list and a match against Fiji to come on Thursday.

I was talking to Wales legend Martyn Williams and he told me that Wales’ record against them plus the fact Fiji need to win to keep their hopes alive is going to make this match incredibly hard.

Australia only scored three tries against Fiji and England’s fourth came in stoppage time – they are far from easy to beat.

And then Wales have to play Australia so I really do believe it’s all to play for – so no matter how disappointed the England players are, they know they can still put things right.