Vickery faces an anxious wait to discover whether or not he will be cited for a blatant first-half trip on Eagles centre Paul Emerick.

The incident went unnoticed and unpunished by referee Jonathan Kaplan, but video replays at Stade Felix-Bollaert suggested Vickery’s action was premeditated.

The match citing commissioner has 48 hours to lodge a complaint against the Wasps prop, who could then face a disciplinary hearing.

The last thing England need is their captain in hot water.

Fly-half Jonny Wilkinson is battling to be fit for the Pool A Springboks encounter, which should decide who tops the group.

A fitness update on Wilkinson, who suffered a sprained ankle ligament during training earlier this week, is expected on Tuesday.

The Springboks, meanwhile, have little to fear on the strength of an error-strewn England display against brave - but strictly limited - opponents.

Olly Barkley, a solid replacement for Wilkinson, helped himself to 18 points through a try, two conversions and three penalties, while wing Jason Robinson and flanker Tom Rees also added touchdowns.

But given the way super-charged World Cup favourites New Zealand cut Italy to shreds in Marseille just hours earlier, England look light years away from being able to mount a successful title defence.

Much of their play was scrappy and without any real direction, and better teams than the United States would have made them pay.

It was only England’s 17th win in the last 41 Tests since being crowned world champions, although head coach Brian Ashton will undoubtedly see it as a worthwhile exercise in terms of dusting off cobwebs.

But England failed to collect a bonus point, and they finished a poor game reduced to 14 men when number eight Lawrence Dallaglio was sin-binned.

Eagles captain Mike Hercus booted a penalty and converted substitute prop Matekitonga Moeakiloa’s second-half try, yet England should have won far more convincingly.

They should still reach the quarter-finals, which is where the journey could end, given how their deficiencies should be ruthlessly exposed by better teams than the United States.