NOT THE FIRST TIME IT’S COST US, ADMITS FORD
direction we are going in. We will get out of this.’ George Ford echoed his head coach’s call for unity and optimism that England can emerge from this rut — but admitted that there must be a solution found to the persistent problem of indiscipline. ‘Obviously, the thing that let us down significantly was our discipline,’ said the Leicester fly-half. ‘In Test matches, one penalty is enough to shift the momentum of the game, never mind a handful. It’s something we’re going to have to grab hold of as players. It’s not the first time it’s potentially cost us. We’re going to have to front that one up. It’s massively disappointing.’ Asked if he could identity an underlying cause, Ford added: ‘I’m not sure. I wouldn’t say we were massively under the cosh, where we had to be desperate to try to stop the momentum. We were good defensively but obviously there is something that we have to look at and fix it very quickly. ‘But the main message from the coaches was that we will come through this and out the other end — 100 per cent. ‘Stick together, fix things up, be honest with each other and move on.’ Meanwhile, England have opted against lodging an official complaint to World Rugby over the performance of referee Pascal Gauzere in Saturday’s defeat. Gauzere awarded Wayne Pivac’s side two highly dubious tries in the opening half an hour, the first of which was particularly controversial. Former England captain Martin Johnson described the French official’s decision to allow Josh Adams’ 17th-minute touchdown as ‘appalling refereeing’, while even former Wales skipper Sam Warburton admitted Jones’ team were right to be ‘livid’.