Gomarsall says Wilko's not to blame for flop at Twickenham

The Newcastle Falcon had, by his own admission, one of his worst games in an England shirt but his half-back partner Gomarsall insisted Wilkinson should not shoulder all the blame.

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He said: "It's very, very unfair to single out Jonny Wilkinson for criticism.

"There was enough leadership and experience on the field for us to dig ourselves out of the hole but it didn't happen."

The England icon could be ruled out of Sunday's Six Nations match with Italy, anyway, if he is cited for a clash with Jonathan Thomas during the game at Twickenham.

Thomas was knocked out in the incident and the match citing officer has until 6.30pm this evening to decide whether Wilkinson should be charged. If he is, then the hearing will take place in London on Wednesday.

Should Wilkinson escape punishment, Gomarsall insists the fly half is still the right man to lead the attack against Italy.

"I felt myself and Jonny were orchestrating England into good positions in the first half [against Wales] but it was just a complete contrast in the second half," Gomarsall said.

"When we go through the video of the match, I think that you could go through the whole side and be critical of certain things. It's a team sport and we're all decision makers, not just one or two of us. It was a collective defeat and not down to any one individual."

The scrum-half added on BBC Sport online: "We've got a great spirit within the squad and it's absolutely vital that we stay tight now."

Wilkinson accepted he had had a poor game and said: "You can't waste energy thinking about it. Being picked is fantastic, but if I'm not deemed the best person, then I'd understand. All I'd say is that, obviously, I'd hope to be playing for England again against Italy."

He also insisted that he was not directly responsible for Thomas's injury and added: "I feel that it was not my tackle [that led to the injury] and I would add that it is always very sad to see a player going off injured."

Saturday's 26-19 defeat has been compounded for Ashton by serious injuries which have ruled out centre Mike Tindall (bruised liver) and wing Dave Strettle (broken foot) for the entire Six Nations.

There are fears that flankers Tom Rees (knee ligament) and Lewis Moody (Achilles) will also miss the rest of the Championship.

The pair will undergo MRI scans today to determine how badly they have been damaged by Wales's first win at Twickenham in 20 years.

Ashton today added another three players to the England training squad based at Bath. They were Shane Geraghty, the London Irish outside half and centre, Sale open side flanker Magnus Lund and young scrum half Lee Dickson, of Newcastle Falcons.

Significantly, Ashton has not brought Josh Lewsey, of London Wasps, back into the fold having left him out of the initial Six Nations squad.

There is also an injury doubt over hooker Mark Regan, who hurt his neck again, with the only good news coming from No8 Nick Easter, who has recovered from a knee injury.