Heather Fell, Olympic silver medallist, writes about her life in the media and sports world.

The wound is still raw. It has taken me a few days to come to terms with the devastating defeat England suffered against Australia last Saturday night in the Rugby World Cup. As I type the words ‘England are out of the World Cup’ I feel the pain of a nation that only last week was filled with so much hope and expectation.

At last I had a Saturday night in the UK and one that coincided with England’s third match of the tournament. I must admit my nerves were increasing during the build up but I had never once let my mind contemplate the consequence of a loss. Thankfully this time I was in the comfort of an English friend’s home rather than a Georgian bar with a Frenchman or a wedding in Greece with a Welsh woman, as per the previous weeks. This provided little consolation or escape.

I awoke the next day hoping it had been a bad dream but was greeted by a downbeat morning news followed by damning newspaper headlines.

Admittedly this is sport and it is ‘only a game’ as I was so often told after a poor performance. That will bring no comfort to our players or the majority of England supporters. It is the statistic of being the first host team to fail to make it beyond the group stages that will continue to haunt us and there is still one month of the tournament left to play.

The only proactive solution must be to pick a new team to support in the hope they can offer a more satisfying result; that said I am personally struggling to switch my allegiance just yet. We do still have one remaining game so we should help ‘carry them home’ — right to the bitter end.