Stuart Lancaster insists England's World Cup dream is not yet dead despite their shattering defeat to Wales at Twickenham. England led 16-9 at half-time and then stretched the advantage to 10 points in the second half, but a late try from Gareth Davies and a Dan Biggar penalty six minutes from time sealed a stunning Welsh victory. 
The result puts Wales firmly in charge of pool A, while realistically England must now beat Australia next Saturday (Sunday AEST) to avoid a nightmare exit before the quarter-finals.
"There's no doubt it's knock-out rugby," Lancaster said. "Wales have to go and play Fiji and have still got to play Australia, but yes, arguably Australia is the knock-out stage for us now. Two teams go through from the pool and teams in the past have lost in the pool and gone through to the final. I said to the boys in the changing room, everything has to go into beating Australia."
Captain Chris Robshaw urged his team to focus on the clash with Australia at the same venue in a week's time. "It didn't work, but it's now about having a big reaction," he said. "It's about a huge week ahead, a huge challenge against Australia."
The defeat is a crushing blow to England, who dominated large spells of the contest but were simply unable to finish their dogged opponents off.
Jonny   May's first-half try had put the hosts in the driving seat but indiscipline at the breakdown allowed Wales to stay in touch. Owen Farrell, a surprise selection at five-eighth ahead of George Ford, kicked 20 points during the match but England chose not to kick a late penalty after Wales had taken the lead.
The three points could have sealed a valuable draw but Robshaw instead opted for a line-out in the hope of scoring a match-winning try. "That call comes down to myself," he said.
Repeated infringements, particularly at the breakdown, were punished by French referee Jerome Garces, pinning England back on the scoreboard. "We've talked a lot about getting the tackler away, we put a massive emphasis on that," Lancaster said. "It's been a hot penalty in this World Cup. They are all in or around the breakdown."
Lancaster said England had a strong first half, at the end of which they led 16-9, and had the better of the opening exchanges in the second, before Biggar reeled them back in with a series of pinpoint penalties.
English lock Geoff Parling shared his coach's sense of disbelief that the team had let their lead slip before a crowd of more than 80,000 on an emotional night. PA, Reuters