The Sale star, whose place-kicking has struggled to convince in comparison with the perfection of the injured Jonny Wilkinson, missed three kickable penalties and then pushed a drop goal attempt wide in the last minute which would have given England victory.

Id been kicking well all week and it was just one of those days for me, explained Hodgson.

I just wasnt striking the ball today, wasnt getting a good hit. It was just one of those things.

While Hodgson allowed centre Olly Barkley to take the longer-range kicks on a blustery afternoon, he had no plans to give up the kicking role.

That would be a cop out, wouldnt it, he said.

Its obviously disappointing but Im a strong character and I want to bounce back from this and theres no better time to do it than next week for Sale.

He also rejected any notion that place-kicking for his country was becoming a psychological obstacle.

It probably is if you start talking about it all the time, but its not from my point of view, he said.

Its taken a while for the team to bed in but we are getting better and better each time we play. In general play today I thought we did pretty well.

We did better this week than last week. Last week we did not get out of first gear, this time we scored two good tries and created opportunities.

He insisted they would be stronger for their next match against Ireland in Dublin in a fortnights time.

Well come back strong for the Ireland game and see if we can get a win out there, Hodgson added.

There might not be as much pressure on us and the lads are enthusiastic and positive.