TACTFUL Billy Twelvetrees stopped short of grandstanding to solve England's midfield shortcomings in the wake of the horrendous 30-3 Wales hammering.
England created less than zero on the front foot in Cardiff.
Stuart Lancaster's men were bereft with ball in hand behind the pack.
Inside centre Brad Barritt is a fulminating defensive demon and impressive rearguard general.
But the South African-born midfielder too often leaves his fly-half high and dry when it comes to the attack.
The muscular Saracen stands simply too far away from his outside-half – and rarely cuts a line on either shoulder of the chief playmaker.
Wales exposed that shortcoming ruthlessly, forcing a hatful of turnovers in England's ten channel.
England boss Lancaster eventually threw Twelvetrees into action – but only once Gloucester boy Alex Cuthbert had blasted two tries in ten minutes to end the contest.
A day that started with England dreaming of the Grand Slam closed with Wales retaining the Six Nations title – and rubbishing Lancaster's talk of building towards 2015.
The former Leeds coach must first build an attack.
That's precisely where Gloucester's creative centre Twelvetrees comes in – he has just the balanced, all-round game England so crave from 12.
It seems on this Cardiff evidence Lancaster has little choice but to dispense with the Barritt-Manu Tuilagi centre partnership and end England's creativity bypass.
Twelvetrees refrained from talking up his future England chances though, playing a pretty measured and respectful politician in the bowels of the Millennium Stadium.
"They capitalised on our errors in defence and attack," he explained. "There's not one area we need to look at, we need to look at it as a whole.
"We need to examine whether we gave 100 per cent in what we tried to do out there.
"We want to get better and better, and we'll look very hard at all of this.
"Every player in the squad feels they can add something.
"It's the same as the people in the stand, you want to get on the field and do something about it.
"I got the opportunity but the game was probably lost by then.
"The Welsh were on a high and already well on top, and it was difficult for us to come back from that.
"It's been a great learning experience coming into the squad.
"It's great that the coaches have faith in me.
"I want to be out there in the 12 shirt, playing for England.
"If I can add something different I want to do that of course.
"But the boys in the centre have played well and worked hard this year, that's what's so good about the team, the competition is huge.
"We've got to bounce back from this though, otherwise we'll go nowhere."
Rejecting the notion of incoherence in England's midfield, former Leicester Tiger Twelvetrees praised centre-field progress in Lancaster's squad.
He continued: "Every game's different, whoever you come up against, the way they defend and attack is different and you compose a new gameplan for each game, and the weather plays a part too.
"You've got to be very tactical, but all the players in the squad are very tactical.
"All the boys have done well, it's just a shame that we couldn't pull it together on the final weekend.
"I'm very much hungry to get back playing with England as soon as possible.
"When you lose like that, it cuts deep within you, and we really want to prove people wrong, put this behind us, build up and get it right.
"One to 15 you have to adapt to what's happening in every area of the field.
"We've got to get our game going, it didn't happen against Wales and we probably chose some wrong options, but good teams make changes quickly – and we didn't this time.
"In previous weeks we adjusted and got away with it, but we didn't against Wales.
"We've got to be sharper in future.
"We spoke after the game about holding onto this emotion.
"You can't take one game as evidence of the whole situation, we'll consider it all with an overview.
"We'll look at what's best for the squad, and what fits in with the gameplan.
"Our gameplan has been working really well since the autumn, and it's proven.
"One game is not enough for us to start doubting everything.
"People have just got to be sharper with personal skills and ambitions.
"Wales got into it more, and that's cost us."
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