Victory for the French at Twickenham on March 11th would need them leaving to beat Scotland in Paris six days later for another Grand Slam championship triumph.

England, despite suffering a record 43-13 defeat against Ireland, are still in the shake-up for silverware, but they will require a vast improvement after a Dublin debacle when their hosts scored four tries and dominated every key area.

"Brian Ashton (England head coach) said afterwards there wasn't a single area of the game that we came away satisfied with, and he is absolutely right," Corry said.

"The improvement that we needed from the Italy game to the Ireland game wasn't there, and we have to make sure performances and results like Saturday night's are an anomaly.

"We must get better, and we will have to improve across the board in a fortnight.

"We have the players and coaches in the set-up to do that."

Some of England's flops will come under scrutiny more than others - former England stars Will Carling and Jeremy Guscott have already questioned Andy Farrell's role at inside centre - while Ashton needs to address a seriously under-performing pack.

"We knew we would have to go up two or three levels, not to beat Ireland, but to compete against them, and we didn't do that," said Ashton.

"We were on the back foot up-front. I am not taking any credit away from Ireland - I thought their forwards were magnificent.

"They looked a lot more physical than us, and they were more physical in the collisions. I feel there is a lot of work to do, but we already knew that."

Two England players who failed to last the distance - Gloucester full-back Olly Morgan (shoulder) and Sale Sharks flanker Magnus Lund (concussion) - will receive further medical checks this week.

But the damage to England's pride could take far longer to heal, after tries by Girvan Dempsey, David Wallace, Shane Horgan and Isaac Boss left Ireland one win away from securing a second successive Six Nations Triple Crown.

"We have the players and we are building, and we learnt a very harsh lesson," said England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson, who delivered a subdued overall display, especially in comparison with faultless opposite number Ronan O'Gara.

"Ireland got out of the blocks quicker than we did, and as painful as it feels, we must take the lessons we learnt from the Ireland game as we prepare for France."

England have not beaten the French since their 2003 World Cup semi-final success in Sydney, yet Ashton is not the type to panic in selection, with mass changes unlikely.

"Maybe the rebuilding job might take that little bit longer than we thought it would two or three weeks ago," said Ashton.

"We have all got to work hard to make sure we get England back on the road to where they should be in world rugby.

"If you had seen the mood in the dressing room after the game it was like being in a mortuary.

"There is no disguising the fact what the players felt like, which is good."