Ashton: Blame me for Cup shambles

After a stuttering victory over the United States and a 36-0 humiliation against South Africa, the defending champions must beat Samoa on Saturday and Tonga a week later to avoid an embarrassing early exit.

But the head coach put himself in the firing line as he mounted a fierce defence of his players and, in particular, Andy Farrell, who has been the target of the most flak since the Springbok defeat, with even one of the England back- room team criticising the Saracens man.

Ashton backed his men to win the "two cup finals" they need to reach the quarter-finals.

He said: "I do not accept the South Africa defeat was a worse performance than USA.

"We have had meetings with the decision makers in the team and, while it's a collective thing, I take ultimate responsibility.

"Everyone has to stand up and be counted now. There's no hiding place and we have two cup finals in two weeks. We have to win those two games.

"I accept the criticism that followed the South Africa game. It was a poor performance and I have the ultimate responsibility. There is no question of the players letting anyone down. That's a no-brainer."

Ashton then dismissed comments by his own defence coach, Mike Ford, that Farrell does not have the time needed to complete his transformation from rugby league great to union international.

"I don't think Andy has failed," said Ashton. "In a poor team performance, he was no better or worse than anyone else. It seems to be the same player who is pinpointed each time and it is grossly unfair to pick out one player.

"We have not been able to transfer our work on the training pitch into matches and it's a question of getting the balance right.

"Yes, it is frustrating and I do sit back in the stands during matches and think: 'I wish they would play in a more balanced fashion.' What we need now is a win over Samoa and the nature of that performance will be key. We are not getting the full potential from the players.

"We should have beaten France in the first of our warm-up matches against them at Twickenham. Since then, our displays have dipped and are nowhere near the level we need."

The good news for England, though, is that Jason Robinson is on target to play against Tonga despite suffering a hamstring strain against the Springboks.

"I am very optimistic about playing," he said. "Lifting the World Cup trophy would be my great dream but if that turns out to be my last game, then it would be out of my hands."

Toby Flood arrived in France today as a replacement for the injured Jamie Noon.

Newcastle's Noon is expected to be out of action for around six weeks, and Flood - an effective operator at fly-half and centre - was the obvious choice to take over.

Flood, 22, produced a man-of-the-match display in Newcastle's Guinness Premiership victory over Sale Sharks yesterday. He also provides Ashton with another goal-kicking option.

Flood was unlucky to miss out on Ashton's 30-man World Cup squad, especially after producing an outstanding Six Nations display against France at Twickenham last season.

And Flood's presence would also help alleviate any further fly-half problems given that Jonny Wilkinson and Olly Barkley both missed the South Africa game due to injuries.

Both Wilkinson and Barkley, though, are on course to regain full fitness in time for Saturday's game.

Ashton has also put Sale prop Stuart Turner on standby, should anything happen this week to

England's three available props - Matt Stevens, Andrew Sheridan and Perry Freshwater. England captain Phil Vickery is still banned for the Samoa game, and Turner will act as cover if any further front-row issues arise.

Graham Rowntree, who is responsible for the scrum and line-out work of the England team, is confident his men can progress to the last eight.

"We are in a bad place and have to fight our way out of it," he said.

Meanwhile, Ireland have dropped veteran scrum-half Peter Stringer for Friday's clash with France. His place goes to Eoin Reddan.