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PARIS - England captain Phil Vickery praised coach Brian Ashton on Sunday after his side's heroic World Cup final defeat by South Africa.
Speaking at a news conference in the French capital Vickery rubbished suggestions in some quarters that England's incredible reversal of form had been more to do with player power.
"I think we can all hold our hands up and say we've made mistakes at certain times either as players or coaches, that's life, that's natural, it happens all the time," said Vickery.
"But I think ultimately Brian's influence on the side in my opinion has been huge and certainly made me very, very happy to go out and want to wear that England shirt.
"Credit must go to Brian and his coaching team for that and regardless of what people say or write that is my feeling."
Vickery said to have gone so far against expectations only to fall at the final hurdle was tough to take.
"You get so far as a group of players, as a group of people to have got that far and get so close and not to ultimately be able to pick up the trophy is a stab in the heart, it bloody hurts I can tell you," he said.
"Ultimately you are not going to be remembered for being a World Cup finalist. I don't want to be remembered for that."
Ashton, who came under pressure as England struggled early on in the tournament, told the BBC earlier that he wanted to stay on but hinted that he might not be in charge at the next World Cup in New Zealand.
"As I sit here at the moment I will be 65 in four years time which as everyone knows is a pretty good retirement age," he said. "But I totally enjoy the job, thoroughly enjoy the job.
"I think we matched South African more or less in every department. This is a special group of people, not just rugby players, that is why they got where they go to."
England's director of rugby Rob Andrew refused to be drawn on whether Ashton will remain in charge.
"Brian has made very clear his position to me and we will work over the next few weeks to work out where we are going for the future," Andrew said.
"We are less than 24 hours after the end of a phenomenal World Cup campaign and I think everybody needs to go home and relax for a little while and reflect on what has happened and look at things formally.
"My position hasn't changed at all including the day after the South Africa (pool) game when half of you wanted Martin Johnson to be managing the England side and why wasn't he here helping out.
"I think we've got to reflect on the whole tournament and make correct decisions going forward."
- REUTERS
