We let fans down - Ellis

9:45am Tuesday 18th November 2008

Leeds forward Gareth Ellis admits England let their fans down with their disappointing performances in the World Cup.

England produced their best attacking display of the tournament in Saturday's semi-final against New Zealand but they paid the price for a catalogue of horrendous defensive blunders in a 32-22 defeat.

Ellis said: "We've let everybody down. Our expectations were definitely to be in that final."

The 27-year-old second-rower could be excused from much of the blame for England's calamitous performance for he went off with a rib injury seven minutes into the second half, with his side trailing 16-10, and never returned.

"It was one of those things," he added. "It was disappointing not to come back on, especially when your team is behind in the semi-finals of the World Cup.

"You don't know if you are going to get the chance to play in another one.

"It was a massive disappointment. We've performed well under our expectations and capabilities. We weren't good enough at the end of the day.

"We came up with the kind of errors you don't normally see and they put us on the back foot."