The weight in the atmosphere at England's post-game press conference was extraordinary. By the looks on their faces, the slope of their shoulders, and the tone of their words it seems that England are starting this Cup under a hefty burden.
"It's like a funeral in the dressing room" intoned Phil Vickery. Vickery and Ashton sat side-by-side, ashen-faced and tight-lipped. And there was this weight, this burden.
"Like it or not, we're world champions and we have to deal with that". The fact that that phrase was so close to the front of Vickery's mind after this match suggests to me that England do not like it, not one bit.
Two more games like the one against the USA and they won't have to deal with it much longer. Neither South Africa nor Samoa will lose much sleep thinking about that performance. Being knocked out in the pool of course, may not be what Vickery has in mind when he talks about "dealing with it".
This team is uneasy with it's own recent history as the best team in the world. They know it has little relation to their current side. They are uncomfortable in their own skin, like a fat fan squeezing his belly into a freshly purchased lycra top. This is not the team that won in 2003, is nothing like, but they are having to live with the achievements of that side. Everywhere they look, or go, every person they speak to, the association is always the same. England = world champions. Not any more.
There are a dozen players in this squad who know what it takes to win a World Cup. And with that knowledge must come the acknowledgement that this team, at this moment, does not have what it takes.
The pressure that comes with being the best is something that New Zealand have been trying to deal with for 20 years, and England have had just four.
Success has not bred success, only more expectations, which this muddle of old stagers and young bucks cannot possibly meet. They are better, much better than they were against the USA.
Freed of this burden, this team is capable of playing a great game. Ashton clearly agrees, else he wouldn't have picked them. Yet when he faced the press, the predominant expressions on his face were confusion and anger.
He acknowledged that the work he had to do this coming week was neither tactical, nor physical - all of which has been done long before the Cup even began - but mental.
England were scrappy, loose. They made nine handling errors and lost four line-outs, against a team who should have been dead meat (which is not to say that the USA weren't excellent, just that they played above themselves).
England were terrible, and the suspicion has to be that Olly Barkley's running game, which won him the man of the match and was one of the few consolations for the side, will not be nearly so effective when he is lining up against someone other than the treacle-slow Mike Hercus.
It won't be a surprise if England lose to South Africa, and for all Ashton's claims that playing "the green and gold of the Springboks will sharpen the senses", after the USA game no one can doubt that they will really struggle to do anything else.
And then, finally, the pressure on this side might ease up and we can see what they are capable of. People and players will have begun to forget that England are defending champions, and the inhibition that the burden creates will finally be lifted.
At least, lets just hope it happens then, because otherwise England are being dumped out of the Cup quick-sharp, and the press will start calling for rolling heads.
To do that before this unit has even begun to find it's own identity would be a real shame.
