Lewsey - five-try show (Getty Images)

England coach Clive Woodward apologised on behalf of Joe Worsley after the England flanker applauded the fans following his late yellow card in Brisbane.

Worsley accidentally caught his man around the neck with England heading towards a huge 111-13 victory over Uruguay but he caused some embarrassment when, instead of sloping off to the sin-bin, he decided to applaud the vast Barmy Army.

Woodward said: "It was an error of judgement, he's been told. I will apologise on his behalf. He shouldn't have been doing that with the Uruguayan still on the floor.

"We all make errors, a rebuke is enough."

With one eye on the televisions carrying coverage of Wales v New Zeland, Woodward added: "Job done. Exactly. That was the planning. We're right on track. We're very, very pleased.

"We're hoping Iain Balshaw isn't as bad as it looked. The official line from Dr Simon Kemp is minor ankle strain... which means he'll be flying home tomorrow!

"Seriously, he's back on his feet and hobbling around, we won't know until tomorrow for sure, but we're hoping it's not serious. "Now the phoney was is over. We're ready for the knock out stages."

Woodward admitted that the past week has been about relaxing on the Gold Coast.

He said: "You try to plan ahead. They've done a lot of weights this week but only one day of rugby.

"Now there's a complete change of focus."

Josh Lewsey, scorer of an England record of five World Cup tries, said: "That's the stuff that boyhood dreams are made of. We showed what we're capable of. I got a lot of good ball.

"We go in to the knock out phases with a bit of confidence."

Andy Gomarsall said: "The atmosphere was unreal. I thought to myself: This is why I play the game.

"Just starting is major achievement in this team."

Uruguay coach Diego Ormaechae said this would be a game too far after his nation's stirring, solitary win over Georgia in Sydney on Tuesday.

And tonight the evidence was there for all to see as England ran in 15 tries and the Latin Americans surrendered. He said: "We didn't have the time to prepare, it was difficult to concentrate over the last four days.

"But England are over and above us. They are an excellent candidate for the World Cup."

Uruguay's Kiwi assistant coach Paul Healy, able to bypass the dramatic interpreter, said: "They were far better than us on the day. Very well organised. They have speed, they're very physical. After Australia's performance against Ireland you'd have to say they've moved up the pecking order."